Borgarsandur Beach

Local name: Borgarsandur

Borgarsandur appears in the Landnámabók: Kráku-Hreiðar Ófeigsson sailed onto these sands and wrecked his ship.

Borgarsandur is a black sand beach on the western side of Skagafjörður, in Northwest Iceland. It stretches just under four kilometres, from Sauðárkrókur to the western mouth of the Héraðsvötn. Geologically it is an outwash plain — flat and wide — and much of it is now overgrown with grass and dune vegetation. There are hiking and camping areas on the sands, and horses are taken out along the beach for a run. Seals and whales have been seen offshore.

Beach Viewpoint

Entrance: Free, no ticket.
Accessibility: Not wheelchair accessible: gravel track, then sand and dunes.
Parking: Free. The nearest mapped car park is about 2 km from the beach, on gravel.
Difficulty: Easy. Flat walking on sand and through dunes, with no ascent.
Transport: Nearest bus stop: Sauðárkrókur – N1, about 3.6 km away. Nothing runs closer.
Hours: Open 24 hours.
Address: 551 Sauðárkrókur

What makes it special

Borgarsandur is a walking beach, not a viewpoint. The outwash plain is largely overgrown now, so the route crosses grass and dunes as much as open black sand. Riding is part of the local use: horses are rented and taken out along the strand for a run. Seals and whales have been seen from the sand. It stays quiet — one visitor found the beach empty and ate lunch looking at it from a camper van.

Good to know

No facilities. No toilets, no drinking water and no information board are mapped near the beach — come stocked.
Not a bare black expanse. Much of the plain is overgrown; grass and dune vegetation cover long stretches of it.
Horses use the strand. Riders bring horses down for a run along the sand — give them a wide berth.
Camping and hiking. There are hiking and camping areas on Borgarsandur.
Dogs are allowed on the beach.

Getting there

Drivers come in from Skagfirðingabraut. Coming from Sauðárkrókur, a track leaves the road before the bridge over the Héraðsvötn and runs down towards the beach; from there it is a walk to the sand. No public transport goes to the beach itself, so a car is the practical way in. The ground at the end is flat — sand and dunes, with no steps and no climb.

Sun & daylight

Museum

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Black Sand Beaches of Iceland (And How to Visit Them Safely)

Iceland's black sand beaches go far beyond Reynisfjara: this list picks twelve, each doing something the others don't. From a plane wreck on volcanic grit to a seal colony on golden sand, with honest distance-from-water guidance for each.