Fjardarheidi Pass

Route 93 over the Fjardarheidi mountain pass, switchbacking down past waterfalls into the fjord town of Seydisfjordur in east Iceland.

Route 93 is the only road into Seydisfjordur, climbing east out of Egilsstadir over the Fjardarheidi plateau at around 620 metres before tumbling down a series of switchbacks into the fjord. The descent is the famous part, sweeping past Gufufoss waterfall with the colourful town and its ferry harbour laid out below, a stretch made famous by a sequence in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. It is fully paved with gradients up to roughly 12 percent, but the high plateau is bleak and the pass is one of Iceland's most exposed in winter, prone to ice and fierce katabatic winds. Mind tight switchbacks on the descent, sudden fog and snow on the plateau, and severe crosswinds in poor weather.