HISTORY & HERITAGE
Many stories.
One remarkable valley.
Geothermal living, skiing and hospitality have shaped Hveradalir for generations.
A VALLEY WITH A LONG MEMORY
More than a landscape.
A place full of life.
Long before today’s Mud Bath, Hveradalir was a place to make a home, grow flowers, gather after a day on skis and find warmth in the earth. Its story brings together pioneering ideas, mountain hospitality and a landscape that has never stopped changing.
Follow the people and moments that shaped the valley, from the first home beside the springs to the ski lodge, the clay baths and the remarkable place you can experience today.
THE STORY AT A GLANCE
Nearly a century.
Still full of life.
- 1927A home beside the hot springs
- 1935The ski lodge opens
- 1938–1954Steam and clay bathing
- 1971A new chapter for the ski area
- 1991–1992Fire, rebuilding and renewal
- TodayThe warmth continues
1927 · A HOME BESIDE THE SPRINGS
Life rooted
in geothermal warmth.
In 1927, Anders Höyer and Erika Höyer built a home beside the hot springs of Hveradalir. They lived here for seven years, finding a way to make the valley’s geothermal heat part of everyday life. Beside their house stood one of Iceland’s early greenhouses, where begonias and roses grew with warmth from the ground.
The flowers travelled to Reykjavík to be sold in the city’s squares. The couple also brewed homemade ale with Icelandic herbs, welcomed travellers and offered clay baths. Cultivation, hospitality and bathing were already woven together in this small geothermal valley.
Their own wedding took place in Hveradalir, the first of many weddings associated with the place. From its earliest chapter, the valley was somewhere to celebrate and linger as well as somewhere to pass through.
1914–1939 · THE RISE OF THE SKI LODGE
A mountain lodge.
A gathering place.
The story of the lodge begins with Norwegian-born L. H. Müller, who founded the Reykjavík Ski Club in 1914 and helped establish skiing as an organised sport in Iceland. Hveradalir became one of the club’s important sites, bringing winter recreation into the volcanic foothills outside Reykjavík.
The ski lodge opened in 1935. Custom-made in Norway and assembled here in a short time, it was considered an innovative building for its day. It offered skiers and mountain travellers a place to gather, and a restaurant soon began serving food and refreshments to summer visitors too.
In 1937, competitors from Siglufjörður, Ísafjörður and Reykjavík came to Hveradalir for cross-country skiing and ski jumping. Two years later, the celebrated Norwegian ski jumper Birger Ruud performed at the Thule Ski Tournament. Around 3,000 spectators gathered to watch him, showing how strongly skiing had captured people’s imagination.
1938–1959 · STEAM, CLAY & BATHING
An old curiosity.
A living tradition.
The earth’s warmth offered more than a way to heat a greenhouse. In October 1938, Morgunblaðið described a new steam bathhouse beside the ski lodge. It had a changing room, a cold shower and a steam room heated directly by geothermal steam. The springs themselves were becoming part of the visitor experience.
Clay bathing brought another chapter in 1954. An October newspaper report described a bathing basin installed in the lodge’s cellar while clay from a nearby spring underwent chemical analysis. The clay came from a spring about 250 metres east of the lodge and was described as soft as dough. Heating pipes beneath the basin warmed it for bathing.
By November, Tíminn reported that clay bathing had begun. These newspaper accounts record the period’s interest in possible therapeutic uses, alongside a recognition that experience would have to determine the effects. A sauna was installed in the cellar in 1959, beside the existing clay bath.
Today’s outdoor Mud Bath carries forward that long connection between the valley, volcanic clay and geothermal warmth. For a closer look at the early steam baths and clay-bathing experiments, follow the separate bathing story.
Explore the bathing heritageFROM 1942 · PEOPLE, HOSPITALITY & FOLKLORE
A lodge full of life.
And a little mystery.
In 1942, siblings Ingibjörg Karlsdóttir and Steingrímur Karlsson took over management of the lodge. Their years there brought together travellers crossing Hellisheiði, summer holidaymakers and well-known visitors, including Josephine Baker and Halldór Laxness.
People sometimes stayed for a week or two during their summer holidays. The lodge became a place of shelter, conversation and character, with the mountains and hot springs just outside. Its hospitality was as much a part of Hveradalir as the landscape itself.
1953–1980s · A PLACE THAT KEPT EVOLVING
Ski slopes.
Sunday visits.
New ideas.
In 1953, monuments to Kristján Skagfjörð and L. H. Müller were erected on a rocky outcrop east of the lodge. A cast copper plaque commemorating the lodge’s construction was also displayed inside. These reminders of the pioneers made the history part of the surroundings.
The lodge and ski area continued to develop. The Müller Tournament celebrated the skiing pioneer’s memory in 1961. In 1971, the City of Reykjavík acquired the lodge, and electricity, a new T-bar ski lift and a cold-water well followed.
The hillside had a quieter creative life too. In the 1970s, artists Blómey Stefánsdóttir and Óskar Magnússon lived in a small turf house called Garðstunga above the lodge. Their life there, with animals for company and woven pictures among their creative work, added another distinctive story to the valley.
Carl J. Johansen took over operations in 1984 and began a renovation. Former guest accommodation became a banquet hall, while the lodge was promoted as a peaceful destination for a Sunday drive and refreshments. Sauna and hot-tub facilities were developed, continuing the place’s longstanding interest in geothermal bathing.
1991–1992 · FIRE & A NEW BEGINNING
The flames rose.
The story continued.
On the evening of 20 January 1991, the original ski lodge burned down. The fire was believed to have started at a fireplace and spread rapidly through the building. From a distance, some people initially thought the flames were a volcanic eruption in Hveradalir.
One witness remembered the dragon figure on the south-west gable remaining above the blaze for a long time before finally falling. It became a striking image in the story of the old lodge’s last evening. The commemorative copper plaque survived the fire, carrying a piece of the original building’s memory into the next chapter.
A new lodge followed in 1992. Designed by Bjarni Snæbjörnsson in a similar style, it was much larger, with halls and lounges for gatherings. Through the following years, the lodge continued to host celebrations, weddings, Sunday visits and other occasions that kept its hospitality tradition alive.
HVERADALIR TODAY · THE WARMTH CONTINUES
Generations of stories.
A moment of your own.
The geothermal heat that helped grow the Höyers’ flowers still rises from the ground. The valley that drew skiers, travellers and bathers continues to welcome visitors, with marked walkways bringing more people close to the steam and volcanic terrain.
The walkway project received the Icelandic Tourist Board Environmental Award in 2022. It added a new chapter to the relationship between visitors and a fragile geothermal landscape, improving access while helping protect the ground.
Today’s Mud Bath brings the bathing tradition outdoors. Mineral-rich volcanic clay, naturally warm water and Icelandic air remain at the heart of the experience, with new changing facilities for bathers and good WC facilities for all visitors.
Come for the rising steam and the earth’s warmth. Take a little time for the stories beneath them. Close to Reykjavík, Hveradalir gives you a place to step into Iceland’s past and make a warm moment of your own.
THE HERITAGE OF SKÍÐASKÁLINN
Adapted from the ski lodge’s historical sign texts and the earlier Hveradalir heritage article, supported by contemporary newspaper accounts: Morgunblaðið, 23 October 1938 and 26 October 1954; Tíminn, November 1954. The sailor and Ingibjörg stories are presented as local folklore.
The archive photographs and their dates are retained from the earlier Hveradalir history page.
Continue into the bathing story