Roads of Westfjords, Iceland: 622 (Svalvogavegur) | The most dangerous road in Iceland? (07.07.2021)

When reading about Iceland’s most dangerous or exciting roads, it doesn’t take long until road 622 gets mentioned somewhere. It’s located in Westfjords region and the total distance of the road is 60,6 km (37,6 miles). It starts from road 60, goes through a small town called Þingeyri and then runs around a peninsula, ending at Hrafnseyri.
First bit of 622 is paved and in good shape, it is after a “4x4 vehicles only” warning sign when things start to get interesting. The road gets super tight and narrow, as it’s carved inside a cliff. It was built in 1973 by Elís Kjaran Friðfinnsson (1928-2008), who used a small bulldozer for the job. His ambition was to create a better access to the farms at the end of the peninsula (these farms now are abandoned). Drive this part slowly and carefully, as it’s wide enough only for one car - having a cliff on the left and a steep drop down on the right (starts at 08:42). There is also a danger of falling rocks. Despite all that, it’s quite a thrilling experience! We were lucky not to have any traffic coming towards us in that section!
From there on the road carries on and you can see views of magnificent mountains on the left and some big rocks all over the place. We were in a hurry with a tight schedule, but for sure take some time to stop and admire all this nature and mountains ,if you happen to go there. Eventually the road passes by a lighthouse as well as a farm and starts to head back towards southeast.
And now to the exciting part or the main attraction of the road - the sketchy bit down at the sea level (starts at 24:50). First, there is a quite steep descent and the road starts to go between the sea and the cliffs. But soon it gets very narrow and sometimes we were basically kind of driving beneath the cliff, exposed to the waves crashing against the road. With a high tide this part of the road can easily be under water. There was an article in 2018 in Icelandmag.is about a tourist, whose Skoda Octavia got stuck in that section and once he got back with some help, the car had meanwhile been completely destroyed by the violent waves. A picture of the wreck can be seen here: icelandmag.is/sites/default/f...
So, it is super important to be informed about the weather conditions while being on that road, as there is no help near and mobile connection is very limited. During our drive the weather wasn’t the calmest and there were waves partly crashing onto the road, but we got through there in one piece. Also, this section is super rocky and bumpy and needs to be driven with extra care.
After that bit the road continues towards Hrafnseyri village. It’s still bumpy and has some small streams / rivers that need fording.
To sum up, 622 definitely is one of the most thrilling driving experiences that Iceland has to offer. Shelf roads through cliffs, beautiful views and then of course the bit below the sea level. Sometimes some F-roads get the attention as being “very dangerous”, but in real life they turn out not to be that bad. 622 is the road that totally deserves the titles it has received on the internet (for example: “most terrifying road in the country”, “driver has got to have nerves of steel”, “extremely dangerous” and “A smaller 4x4 will NOT be a good option here”.) It's not only the mentioned sections above that are rough, the whole road since "4x4 only sign" is a tough driving. I damaged my car's front skid plate pretty badly during this drive. So even though it's not considered an "official F-road", it's just so exciting that I decided to include it to my playlist of F-roads as well.
Chapters:
00:00 Map of the route
00:25 622 (from 61 to Þingeyri)
01:12 Þingeyri
02:07 622 (from Þingeyri until "4x4 only" sign)
03:42 622 (beginning of 4x4 only)
08:42 622 (narrow shelf road section)
09:39 622 (around Svalvogar)
24:50 622 (famous section next to the sea)
31:27 622 (from the dangerous part until the end of the road)
#Iceland #Westfjords #622 #Svalvogavegur

[@chongo333]

amazing drive, thanks for capturing and sharing it with us

[@gordonwheeler627]

Hi Ervin, loved this particular road for its challenges and also really liked the music, hoping to see some more full length drives soon. Have watched 20 or so of the catalogue so far and will watch the rest, hope to drive some them for myself in the next couple of years. Looking forward to some new ones.

[@ervindrivesaround1607]

Thank you! I will try to record some new material of full length roads very soon, yes! :)

[@CinecomCrew]

Thank you Ervin. Currently planning a trip to the fjords and your videos have been very helpful! I'll be going with a Ford Ranger with body kit, making it almost 2m high. I'm gonna take my chances and hopefully be able to cross that narrow beach carving :-)

[@frenchbaroudeur6484]

très beau

[@matthiasfeige2084]

Tolles Video. What kind of music? titel?

[@1969FCS]

Your video is a big help. You did a great job. I think I will try it in 2022. Thank you very much for taking the time to post it. Your write up was also excellent. Did you travel it in a Nissan Pathfinder? Was it stock? I have a 2014 Nissan Xterra. Thanks again so much!

[@ervindrivesaround1607]

Thank you very much for these kind words! Yes, I did it in a Nissan Pathfinder and it's in full stock, I just have some basic all terrain tires on the stock rims. :) Good luck with your trip!

[@ibbi270]

Did you go for it?

[@1969FCS]

@@ibbi270 No, not yet. I just crossed Sprengisandur yesterday Aug 4 2022 to visit the Samgönguminjasafnið Ystafelli. That´s a great old car and transporation museum. I will try 622 in my Feroza, it is more maneuverable than the bigger car I have with me right now. Have you done it?

[@ibbi270]

@@1969FCS You driving Daihatsu around Iceland? 😃Pictures? But i have not driven it. But many people i know have done it in Subaru Legacy and also big cars on 38 inch tires so no problems for you haha

[@fredmundur]

Did you check the tide timetable before embarking on this journey? How long did it take in real time?

[@ervindrivesaround1607]

To be honest, I did not! I just checked the general weather forecast (for wind and perception) and made sure the road was marked as passable on www.road.is. It's only afterwards when I was starting to edit this video when I found out that much more research can (and should) be done before going there. There was a white sign somewhere during the road that warned about checking out the tide, but it had no english translation, so I found out about it only after. The whole road took us around 2 hours and 10 minutes, the "scary" beach section took about 11 minutes.

[@fredmundur]

This one has a deserved bad reputation and looks terrifying. Perhaps I'll try it some day !

[@hundslappadrifa]

Great video! What to do if there is any approaching traffic?

[@ervindrivesaround1607]

If there is any way for cars to pass each other, it would be pretty tight maneuvering. But for some parts there is no other way than having to reverse one of the cars.

[@12354rony]

@@ervindrivesaround1607 Absolutely terrifying, could never be me lol

[@powerwagon3731]

I found the music and drive mesmerizing. Who is the artist?

[@kteo7794]

hi ervin, i'm italian and i have a fiat panda 4x4 not stock but tuning with 160 hp. i'm planning a road trip in iceland and i'm thinking to do this road. do you think is a good idea? thank you for show us this beautiful country!

[@ervindrivesaround1607]

I think most of the road is doable with a 4x4 Panda, however the famous beach part close to the sea might be an issue, as there are many loose rocks. Do you have some sort of all terrain tires as well and what's your ground clearance? :)

[@pizzamandellaxx6979]

how long did this take you?

[@ervindrivesaround1607]

Hi! This road took me about 2 hours and 10 minutes. But we didn't make any stops on the way.

[@lyramidsummer5508]

No, just no! Glad you did it as I won't/can't. I do so love Iceland.

[@UChris1995]

Hey, last year in early July, I drove a Jimny until around 21:40 with no problems at all, really loved the drive. Then I had an Icelandic tour guide come from the other side, not just asking me to go back, but rather forced me to go back because the "road afterwards was taken by the sea" and that there is no way of turning around after where I was. The American tourists he drove them agreed with him. It was 2h after low tide, so in between high and low tides, but rather low tide than high tide. I'm super mad at myself for following what he said. There's even a possibility to turn around ad 25:20 or 27:30 just before the section. I mean, I knew exactly what the road was like and this guy claimed it would be totally different. Your video shows that it wasn't. Man, I need to go back then. Maybe I'm going from the other side, there's even more possibilities to turn around there in case everything is worse.

[@ervindrivesaround1607]

Hi! Was it like the first week of July 2021? I remember watching www.road.is for conditions during the very first days of July and there was an "X" marked on the map on that road, claiming it to be closed. I called Veggagerdin and asked about it, they said the road had been washed away... However, before I drove on the 7th of July and asked them about it, they said it had been fixed. Were you there maybe during that period? Anyway, sad to hear that you could not complete the drive, I hope you can make it next time. I think approaching from the south side gives more space to turn around indeed, as the slope just before the rocky beach (coming from north) is annoyingly steep.

[@UChris1995]

@@ervindrivesaround1607 Hi, that's good to know! So maybe it was just really bad timing for me and there is no need for me to be mad 😅 I just checked, it was July 4th, though I did not see any "Closed" signs until where I got (which probably wasn't too far away from the spot - it was after the first real water crossing from the Northern side). But that's just another reason (among a lot of other reasons!) to get back to Iceland rather soon! Your country is amazing!

[@UChris1995]

@@ervindrivesaround1607 and yes, approaching from the South would be better as it's also much shorter to get to the tricky part that way - but no nice view of driving towards Dynjandi ;)

[@johnlewisiii2076]

What economic purpose does the road service?

[@ervindrivesaround1607]

That's a good question and to be honest, at the moment in my opinion the only purpose is attracting tourists to drive through it... There used to be some farms or at least I saw one or two buildings there. But I don't think there is anyone living there now permanently, most likely just summer homes. Of course if I'm wrong then all the Westfjord residents feel free to correct me. :)

[@james.a.h.]

Perhaps its a road to access the lighthouse at the tip?

[@negueba235689]

no where to stop and go hiking or camp ? I am on iceland now, but for work. maybe in 2023 i bring my 6x6

[@ervindrivesaround1607]

Hi! There are some points where you can stop and check out the scenery and most likely hike (not sure if there are official hiking routes also). We were in a hurry so we just decided to make it in a one row. About camping I don't know, at least I didn't notice any official campsites there on the road. Also, 6x6 sounds damn impressive!

[@KASIM0D0]

@27:44 - ég get ekki metið það… Eru takmörk fyrir hæð bílsins? Klifð virðist svo lágur…

[@ervindrivesaround1607]

Even though it seems very low indeed, it didn't feel as if it would start to scratch the roof. There weren't any signs either restricting the height of the vehicles.

[@helderfernandes6283]

It almost looks like that it is doable with a 2-wheel drive....but one think is what is doable...the other is what is wise to do... 🙂

[@ervindrivesaround1607]

Exactly! :) I actually had 2WD for a large part of this road, as I was having some problems with my 4WD system and was "saving it" for more serious sections (like the beach part next to the water).

[@exploreiceland]

I spent a week there in our family vacation home next to Svalvogar: kzbin.info/www/bejne/m3y9k4uGm5Kfd6M 🥰

[@ervindrivesaround1607]

Wow, very nice drone footage! Thx for sharing!

[@russellfitzpatrick503]

Yeah! knew I'd see it at some point ..., a pair of cyclists!! Holy Jesus, doing this road on a pedal cycle - just nuts!!

[@ervindrivesaround1607]

For me it was a huge relief that they were "just" cyclists, not another wide 4x4 vehicle... :D

[@guidok3762]

On film it doesn’t look that dangerous 🤪 would be possible with a 2WD on all terrain tires.......

[@mienfobelets4820]

A 2WD on all terrain tires ????? Sure. Go for it. Darwin needs its number.

[@guidok3762]

@@mienfobelets4820 if you know anything about driving in terrain you must know that’s not all about 4wd ( see KZbin channel LIVING THE VAN LIFE )........ after you see this channel we talk again 🤪💪

[@ervindrivesaround1607]

I've been watching LTVL channel since 2019 and of course lots of credits to Chad for getting his 2WD VW campervan through some rugged stuff. Most of 622 can be done most likely yes with all terrain tires and 2WD, but due to the sketchy beach section I'd highly recommend using a proper 4WD vehicle.