I find that Kopasker beach is the most beautiful beach in the area. A visit here is perfect as an evening hike, or even as a pitstop on a longer roadtrip further north. I have been there several times, and my first trip there was during a storm. The wind and high tide made it impossible to get down to the beach, but I took some photos from the cliff.

Firstly to get there you need to drive on a gravel road called Norðausturvegur, road no. 870. After all you can drive the entire 870 road with a normal car because of the good quality of the road. Then after about 10 min. there is a small parking spot by the left side of the road. From there you can walk directly down to the beach or further out to what I call the elephant cliff. Despite this road has no winter service, it´s open all year. Road 870 is also a part of the Arctic coastway, you can find more information about this coastway here!

If you want to know if a road is open or closed you can check this page, it also has some cameras if you are interested in that.

Road 870

Kopasker beach is a beautiful black sand beach with volcanic cliffs and ballistic rocks. I would recommend to visit it during low tides because then you can see the ballistic rocks descending from the cliffs into the ocean and that it is a very special and unique sight. Most importantly this is a very quiet and peaceful area and you would rarely meet anybody here. Although I have never seen any Puffins here, It is a great place for birdwatching.

Kopasker Beach
Beach Arch
Kopasker Beach
Me loving the beach
balistic rocks decending from the cliffs into the ocean
ballistic rocks descending from the cliffs into the ocean
Rock

I wish I could bring this stone with me, back home to Norway, i just love it ❤️

If you walk straight forward from the parking, and not to the left, towards the beach you end up at a high point. If you continue as far as you can, you will discover the «elephant rock». It is actually a piece of land just barely hanging onto the cliff and through time it will become an arch separated from the land itself.

Elephant Rock
Elephant Rock

I visited the beach in January during a storm, and as you see from the pictures the scenery is quite different. And obviously I didn´t get down to the actual beach at that time. You can see spots of snow in the landscape and especially on the cliff edges the snow is piled up.

in a storm
Kopasker beach in a storm
in a storm

Fun fact! I lost my self-knitted beanie on my first trip to this beach in end of January. Surprisingly It blew off my head and I didn’t realize it before the next day! Unfortunately I did not have enough time to go back and look for it.

Fast forward to April which was my next trip there. I was actually, in the back of my mind hoping to find the Beanie there, also fully aware of the the chances being very slim. After all I am a believer, and guess what i found on a table by the carpark?…. my beige Beanie!!

In conclusion to this, you can surely trust people in this area ❤️

My lost and found Beanie
My lost and found Beanie

Whenever you are in the area I recommend a visit to this beach, such a peaceful and calm place ❤️

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