Berry Picking in West Iceland: Bilberries & Crowberries by the Trucks

From roughly mid-August into September, the heathland around Hvítárbakki in Borgarfjörður turns into a low, sprawling larder. Two wild berries do most of the work: aðalbláber (bog bilberry, a small blue-black berry with dark red pulp) and krækiber (crowberry, a shiny black berry on needle-leaved mats). Both grow within a short walk of the converted expedition trucks, and picking a cupful costs nothing but an hour of your afternoon.

What’s Ripe, and When

Berry season in West Iceland runs from about mid-August until the first hard night frost, which often arrives in mid to late September. Late August is usually the sweet spot: the bilberries have darkened and softened, and the crowberries are plentiful. Bilberries are the sweeter, juicier of the two and stain your fingers purple; crowberries are tarter and firmer, better mixed into skyr or made into juice than eaten by the handful. If there’s been a sharp frost, the picking window is closing, so go while the weather is mild.

Where to Look Around the Trucks

Bilberries and crowberries favour uncultivated heathland, birch scrub, and older lava, all of which ring the Hvítá valley. You don’t need to go far. For a longer outing, drive about 40 minutes up-valley toward Húsafell and the lava fields, where the same low shrubs carpet the ground between the birch. Look on gentle, well-drained slopes rather than boggy hollows, and check the sunnier faces first, as they tend to ripen a few days ahead.

The Icelandic Custom, and How to Pick Politely

Iceland has a long-standing right to roam, and picking berries for your own use on uncultivated public land is part of it. The etiquette is simple. On unfenced, uncultivated land away from farmyards you may pick freely for personal consumption. On private or cultivated farmland the rule tightens: you can eat berries on the spot, but you should not carry them away without the landowner’s say-so. When in doubt, avoid fenced fields and anything close to a farmhouse, and just ask. Take only what you’ll use, leave plenty for the next person and for the birds, and tread lightly on the moss, which regrows very slowly.

• Getting there: heathland is right around the trucks; the Húsafell lava fields are about a 40-minute drive up the Hvítá valley.
• Duration: allow 1 to 2 hours; a decent cup of bilberries takes patience.
• What to bring: a container or cup, waterproof boots, and a layer against the wind. No permit or special gear is needed.
• When to go: mid-August into September, before the first hard frost; a dry, mild afternoon is ideal.

Where to Stay

Stay at Hvítá Trucks, where the converted expedition trucks sit right on the bank of the Hvítá on the same heathland the berries grow on, so a morning of picking starts at your door rather than after a drive. Rinse your bilberries, stir them through breakfast skyr, and you’ve turned a free walk into part of the stay. Book direct on Ourhotels.is for the best rate.

Photo: Axel Kristinsson from Reykjavík, Iceland via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.