Starting one's tour of the geological sites of North America's national parks with Yellowstone; the breathtaking landscape inspires the idea of a national park; the processes that produce Yellowstone's geothermal formations, particularly its geysers.

Reading the evidence in the rocks to unearth Yellowstone's bigger story; the volcanic eruptions that create the region will one day destroy it; the glaciers that shape the terrain; the meltwater floods that carve the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.

At Grand Teton National Park south of Yellowstone, an active fault lifts some of North America's oldest rocks to the summits of some of the continent's youngest mountains; exploring these glacier-sculpted peaks; the origin of the Jackson Hole.

Comparing the lessons of hotspot volcanism at Yellowstone with the different landscape at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park; Professor Cochran describes rivers of fire on the Big Island of Hawaii and suggests distinctive lava formations to visit.

How a barren volcanic landscape becomes a tropical paradise; studying the speed with which volcanic islands erode, leaving rich soil behind; watching these processes at work on the Big Island of Hawaii, at Haleakala National Park on Maui.

Touring Mount Rainier National Park and Lassen Volcanic National Park in the Pacific Northwest; they are a part of the Cascade Range of active volcanoes that include Mount Saint Helens; visiting a group of similarly cataclysmic volcanoes.