It can be seen from Alberta Highway 3 west of the town of Coleman in the Crowsnest Pass.

The mountain was originally named by the Ktunaxa First Nations due to ravens nesting in the area.

[1] The grey rocks exposed in the cliffs on the upper part of Crowsnest Mountain are limestones and shales of Late Devonian to Early Mississippian age (the Palliser at the base, overlain by the Exshaw and Banff, with the Livingstone Formation at the summit).

They were moved up from the west along the Lewis thrust fault and emplaced over younger rocks (the Late Cretaceous Belly River Formation) that underlie the wooded lower slopes of the mountain.

The thrust sheet has since been cut through by erosion along Allison Creek, however, leaving Crowsnest Mountain and its northerly neighbour, Seven Sisters Mountain, standing together as an isolated klippe.