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A large portion of Iceland's road system is made up of dirt roads,
even the main highways, and more so as you get further away from the
capital and larger towns. The main highway around Iceland, Route 1,
circles Iceland in 1428 kilometers of which 272km is dirt road. Once
you get away from the SE part the traffic is usually not heavy and
often very little, especially once you get off Route 1. On the dirt
roads you may encounter long stretches with potholes, "washboards" or
loose sand. We recommend mountain bikes with fat studded tires for good
tracking and comfort and low gear ratios to help climbing those hills.
Narrow racer type tires may be great where you live but can be
dangerous on those dirt roads and should not be used on loose gravel,
muddy dirt road and they are impossible on sand.
Keep to marked roads or
paths. Off road driving is prohibited. The soil and vegetation is very
sensitive to all traffic due to the very brief growing season, only 2
to 4 months, and even walkers can cause permanent damage to the land,
which may recover only slowly or not at all.
Cyclists are allowed in all tunnels except the one under Hvalfjörður
The Public Roads Administration has a website
with maps on current road conditions including the interior highlands
and weather conditions on certain mountain roads etc. Here is a road map of Iceland where dirt roads are marked grey. They also have a detailed brochure on the roadsystem here and check out the Road Traffic Directorate website for useful information on how to drive safely in Iceland
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