Within the Rocky Mountains adjacent to the eponymous Crowsnest Pass, the municipality formed as a result of the 1979 amalgamation of five municipalities – the Village of Bellevue, the Town of Blairmore, the Town of Coleman, the Village of Frank, and Improvement District No.

Its ethnic and cultural diversity comes from the many European and other immigrants attracted to the area by the mines.

An operating coal mine just across the British Columbia boundary in Sparwood continues to provide employment for residents living in the Municipality of Crowsnest Pass.

In 1903, the tip of Turtle Mountain broke loose and decimated part of the Village of Frank.

Periodic forest fires have swept the valley, including one in the summer of 2003 that threatened the entire municipality.

The area was a centre for "rum-running" during prohibition, from 1916 to 1923, when liquor was illegally brought across the provincial boundary from British Columbia.

The legacy is celebrated at the restored Alberta Provincial Police Barracks, which is now an interpretive centre.

On November 3, 1978, the Government of Alberta passed the Crowsnest Pass Municipal Unification Act, which led to the formal amalgamation of Bellevue, Blairmore, Coleman, Frank, and Improvement District (ID) No.

[8] It borders the province of British Columbia to the west, the Municipal District (MD) of Ranchland No.

[8] Parts of the Rocky Mountains Forest Reserve are in the northwest and southern portions of the municipality.