The Hofsjokull (The Temple Glacier; 1760m) is a round shaped icecap in the centre of the country. It is the third largest one with an area of about 925 kmē. The landscape under the ice is the great mountain massif of a central volcano with a vast, ice filled caldera.  Mt Arnarfell (1143m) is at the southeastern part of Glacier The view from the top of Mt. Arnarfell is excellent on a fine day.

The glacier is relatively steep and therefore travellers have to be extremely careful about crevasses. Many glacier snouts flow down from the main firn and two of its rivers, Thjorsa and Blanda, have been harnessed for electrical production. A great volume of water runs from this glacier on the surface. It has a much smaller namesake just east of the big glacier Vatnajokull.