Volcanic Mayhem: Chasing the Yellowstone Hot Spot 2026

Over the past 15 million years, the Yellowstone Hot Spot has carved a dramatic swath, the Snake River Plain, across the belly of southern Idaho. This four-day caravanning geology field trip follows the wake of the notorious hot spot, investigating its effect on the fascinating geology, topography, and hydrology of the region. Starting near the Idaho/Nevada border with ~10 million year old explosive ash deposits, we will transect and follow the hot spot track to investigate and observe a variety of volcanic landforms and other features. The trip terminates in Yellowstone National Park, which overlies the current head of the hot spot.

*Trip includes hikes of up to two miles with up to 600 feet of elevation gain. You can opt out of hikes if you want/need to.