Yellowstone: microcosm of the National Parks -- Yellowstone's cataclysmic origins and future -- Grand Teton and Jackson Hole -- Hawaii volcanoes: earth's largest mountains -- The Hawaiian islands and Maui's Haleakala -- Mount Saint Helens, Lassen volcanic, Rainier -- Crater Lake, Olympic, North Cascades -- Volcanoes of Alaska: Katmai and Lake Clark -- Alaska's Glacier Bay and Kenai Fjords -- Yosemite: nature's cathedral -- Redwoods, sequoias, and the Sierra Nevada -- Pinnacles to Joshua Tree: the San Andreas -- Denali to Gates of the arctic -- Death Valley and Great Basin: the rift zone -- Shenandoah: the collision of old continents -- Great Smoky Mountains and Hot Springs -- National rivers: Gorges, Falls, and Meanders -- Great Dune fields of North America -- National seashores and lakeshores -- Reefs: Virgin Islands, Florida, Texas -- National marine sanctuaries and monuments -- Acadia's highlands and islands -- The Dakota badlands -- The Grand Canyon's 2 billion year staircase -- Carving the Grand Canyon -- Petrified Forest and other fossil parks -- Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Arches -- Zion, Gunnison's Black Canyon, Capitol Reef -- Mesa Verde and ancient settlements -- The Colorado Rocky Mountains -- Montana's Glacier and the Canadian Rockies -- Big Bend on the Rio Grande and Saguaro -- Mammoth Cave, Wind Cave, Carlsbad Caverns -- The Everglades and the Congaree Bottomland -- Voyageurs, Isle Royale, the Canadian Shield -- Assembling North America, park by park.