Safari.is established Iceland's first dedicated mountain peak ATV operation in 1997, operating from a workshop on Lambhagavegur where mechanics serviced fishing trawlers.
The company pivoted to adventure tourism when Reykjavik's urban sprawl reached the city's eastern volcanic ridges, creating demand for motorized access to previously walker-only terrain. Within a decade, quad biking had become Iceland's third most-booked outdoor activity, trailing only glacier hikes and whale-watching expeditions.
The Reykjavik Peak ATV Tour departs daily from the Lambhagavegur depot, nine hundred meters from Perlan Museum, where riders receive helmet-mounted radios and thirty minutes of machine instruction on a gravel practice circuit. Guides lead convoys of six to twelve riders along unmarked routes that climb two hundred vertical meters in under an hour, crossing moss fields that take three decades to regenerate and skirting privately owned sheep pastures leased for seasonal access. The twin-peak circuit reaches Úlfarsfell's six-hundred-meter summit, where Faxaflói Bay stretches west and the Hengill geothermal field steams to the southeast. On clear days, riders identify Snæfellsjökull glacier seventy kilometers across the water.
Vehicle choice matters. Four-stroke Yamaha Grizzly 700 models dominate fleet inventories due to torque performance on lava-rock switchbacks and availability of spare parts shipped from Akureyri. Two-stroke machines, once common, were phased out in 2019 under noise-abatement regulations targeting the Bláfjöll recreation area. Modern tours include passenger-equipped models for non-drivers, though solo operation remains the standard booking.
The Hengill Volcano routes extend beyond city limits into geothermal zones where fumaroles vent sulfur steam and hot-spring runoff stains the gravel orange. These three-hour itineraries add fifty percent to base pricing and require signed liability waivers due to unstable ground near steam vents. Reykjavik Peak ATV Tour tickets grant access to landscapes inaccessible by sedan or tour bus, with guides navigating seasonal trail closures tied to nesting ptarmigan populations and spring snowmelt that washes out creek crossings until mid-June.
2 hr 30 min
