There is a remote black sand beach in southern Iceland where you can visit a crashed airplane.

That sounds pretty cool, right? I’d seen photos of this long before I planned my own trip to Iceland, and knew that someday I would visit here. But what I didn’t count on was just how difficult it would be to access — there are no signs, and you have to know just where to turn down an unmarked gravel road towards the ocean (this area is called Solheimasandur). About 4km later you’ll see the plane lying on the beach.

UPDATE: as of March 2016, landowners have decided to bar vehicles from entering this gate due to road damage. Visitors may still walk the 4km (2.5 miles) each way on foot to visit the plane wreck site.

This website does a good job describing exactly where to find the plane. Here’s what the turn-off from Ring Road looks like:

(image via)

After finding what I presume is the correct turn off, I follow the gravel road to the ocean. It’s slow-going, as the road is super rocky and I don’t want to damage my rental car. My sister and her friends tried to get here the month before, but their car did not have 4-wheel drive so they turned around quickly. Eventually I spot the plane in the distance:

There’s a small crowd of people who are part of a jeep tour, but they depart quickly and then it’s just me and a handful of other travelers sharing the space. I’m glad it’s not crowded because photos of the plane wreck are cooler / creepier without people in them.

Curious how this airplane got here? It’s a U.S. Navy Douglas Super DC-3 (as if I have any idea what that means) and it was forced to lake on Soloeimasandur’s black sand beach in November 1973. There is not consistent information on-line as to why this plane had an emergency landing, but it sounds like either severe icing and/or lack of fuel. Everyone on board survived and the plane was left abandoned.

Time to go inside…

This makes me flashback to the last time I was in a crashed plane — underwater in Kas, Turkey. An old plane was intentionally sunk in shallow waters there to become a scuba diving site. I have vivid memories of floating through the body and cockpit of that plane in full scuba gear; it was sort of claustrophobic.

This story has one more twist!

On my short drive back to the Ring Road, I stop to pick up a hitchhiker for the first time ever. I’ve hitchhiked on a few random occasions throughout my travels, but never picked someone else up before. But hitchhiking is widely practiced in Iceland and this is about as low-risk as it gets, so I figure this is a good time to try it. I remember there was a camper van parked at the turn-off 4km from the plane site, and I assume it belongs to someone who didn’t want to risk damaging their car so they just walked the distance instead. Sure enough, there is one guy walking by himself, and it’s his van back at the main road. It has just started to rain so I’m not surprised when he waves his arms to get my attention, and I happily slow down to offer him a ride. He’s from Italy and camping around Iceland by himself in the camper van. We compare itinerary notes on the way back to the Ring Road. He’s grateful for the ride, and I’m glad to check off the “pick up a hitchhiker” box on my lengthy travel adventures check list.