Eldborg Crater

The reward is the rim itself. The trail crosses lava fields, level but strewn with loose stone, and the only real climb comes at the very end, up the side of the cone. The last stretch is a stairway with a chain to hold onto. From the top the view is unbroken in every direction, over the lava plain and straight down into the crater. You cannot go inside it — the rim is as close as anyone gets.

Overcast weather does not spoil the colours in the lava and moss, which stay strong under grey sky. Low cloud is another matter: it takes away the panorama, and the panorama is most of the reason for coming. A second, smaller crater sits close to the route and is worth the detour.

• Wrong turn: an earlier turn-off to the right is not the trailhead car park. Keep going — stopping there leaves a river to wade before the trail.
• Start early: the car park fills up later in the day, and you meet fewer people on the way up.
• No facilities: no toilets, no drinking water and no information board at the trailhead.
• Cloud decides: in fog or low cloud there is no view from the rim, and the climb loses its point.
• Dogs are allowed on the trail.

No bus runs here, so the approach is by car. Aim for the official trailhead car park beside the campsite; an earlier turn-off to the right stops on the wrong side of a river, and from there the only way across is on foot through the water. The path begins just past the wooden bridge next to the car park and runs across the lava to the foot of the cone, where the climb to the rim starts.

Better: early in the day, and in clear weather.

Avoid: fog and low cloud.

The whole point of the climb is the open view from the rim, and cloud erases it. An early start also means fewer people coming the other way and a better chance of a parking space. Sunset works well from the top.