The terrain of Yellowstone National Park can be traced back to the route of the North American Plate over 1.7 billion years ago.

Yellowstone National Park is located at the northeast end of the Snake River Plain. The Snake River Plain is a huge U-shaped valley, extending westward for about 640 kilometers from the mountains that protrude outward from the Boise Mountains of Idaho. This terrain dates back to the route of the North American Plate over the past 1.7 billion years, as the North American Plate was transported by plate tectonics across a stationary mantle hotspot. The current terrain of Yellowstone National Park is the closest manifestation of this hotspot beneath the crust.