Akureyri · Iceland

Arctic Henge (Heimskautsgerðið) · Raufarhöfn

Free car park below the Arctic Henge, a basalt monument aligned to the sun and stars on the hill above Raufarhöfn, near the Arctic Circle.

See tonight's live score and best time to go for Arctic Henge in Aurora Atlas

Heimskautsgerðið 2023 Aerial
“Heimskautsgerðið 2023 Aerial” by Eysteinn Guðni Guðnason, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (resized).

Why it works for the aurora

View
North over open moor and the Arctic Ocean; the stone gates frame the cardinal directions..
Darkness
Dark sky, grade 1 on a scale from 0 (darkest) to 5. Little artificial light; a good place for faint aurora and the Milky Way.
Aurora
Under the auroral oval: aurora can be overhead even on quiet nights.

Getting there

Distance
About 161 km by road from Akureyri (estimate), roughly 3 h 06 by car.
Parking
Free car park 200 m from the monument; a short track to drive up, or you can walk.
Coordinates
66.4608, -15.9604 · Open in OpenStreetMap

Before you go

Remote; road 85/874 can close in storms (umferdin.is).

Dress for standing still in the cold, bring a head torch with a red light, and park only where parking is allowed. A forecast is guidance, not a promise: check the road and weather warnings for Iceland before a night drive. See our winter safety note.

Spot information from openstreetmap.org.