It stretches 1,161 km (721 mi) across the southern portions of both provinces, from Hope, British Columbia to Medicine Hat, Alberta, providing the shortest highway connection between the Lower Mainland and southeast Alberta through the Canadian Rockies.

Mostly two-lane, the highway was officially designated in 1932, mainly following a mid-19th-century gold rush trail originally traced out by an engineer named Edgar Dewdney.

It takes its name from the Crowsnest Pass, the location at which the highway crosses the Continental Divide between British Columbia and Alberta.

In Alberta, the terrain is initially mountainous, before smoothing to foothills and eventually generally flat prairie in the vicinity of Pincher Creek.

This history has been preserved at a heritage marker at Sunshine Valley, which was the largest internment camp in Canada.

It proceeds for 5 km (3 mi) into the town of Fort Macleod, after which Highway 2 splits south to Cardston and the United States border.

[3] After Coalhurst, the highway reaches Westview Drive W, which provides access to West Lethbridge.

Alberta Transportation has long-term plans to upgrade the entire Highway 3 corridor to a freeway from the British Columbia border to Medicine Hat.

[7] During the 2021 British Columbia floods, the Crowsnest Highway was closed by landslides, as were the other routes connecting the Lower Mainland with the rest of Canada.