[8] In 1898, Baker had successfully convinced Canadian Pacific Railway to establish their Crowsnest Pass line through Cranbrook rather than nearby Gold Rush Boom Town Fort Steele.

With that accomplishment Cranbrook became the major centre of the region, while Fort Steele declined; however, the latter is today a preserved heritage town.

It is a fairly dry city throughout the year, and when precipitation does fall a good percentage of it will be in the form of snow.

Overall, its climate is extremely similar to that of Kelowna, in the nearby Okanagan Valley to the west - especially in regard to precipitation patterns and total monthly accumulation.

Cranbrook is home to the main campus of the College of the Rockies, which has over 2,500 full and part-time students from over 21 countries.

[31] Cranbrook is at the junction of major highways 3 and 93/95, and due to its close proximity to the borders of Alberta and the United States, it is an important transportation hub.

Cranbrook has a major Canadian Pacific Railway yard, which serves as a key gateway for trains arriving from and departing to the United States.

Approximately 5 nautical miles (9.3 km; 5.8 mi) north[32] is the Cranbrook/Canadian Rockies International Airport, which has recently completed its 12.5 million dollar expansion including the lengthening of its runway from 6,000 to 8,000 ft (1,800 to 2,400 m)[32] feet in order to accommodate a limited number of international flights and an expansion to the Terminal for more passengers.

On February 11, 1978, Pacific Western Airlines Flight 314, a Boeing 737-200, nearly impacted a snowplow on the runway at the airport in Cranbrook, then lost control and crashed, killing 42 of the 49 people on board.

[34] Western Financial Place (formerly called the RecPlex) is a pool and hockey arena in Cranbrook that opened in 2000, and was formerly the home to the Kootenay Ice until relocating to Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 2019.