Joe, an overwrought rancher is striving from his harsh upbringing, trying make a better life for his family. When his business falters, Joe fears his son, at the age of 15, will follow in his footsteps, and decides to drive him from home.

After the death of his wife, world-class neurosurgeon Dr. Andrew Brown leaves Manhattan and moves his family to the small town of Everwood, Colorado. There he becomes a small-town doctor and learns parenting on the fly as he raises his talented but resentful 15-year-old son Ephram and his 9-year-old daughter Delia.