The pass is 418 m above sea level and connects National Road 15 from Tân Ấp in Vietnam to Route 12 in Khammouane Province in Laos.

During the Vietnam War the pass was the principal point of entry into the Ho Chi Minh Trail through Laos.

[1] A CIA landscape analysis prepared in February 1966 described Route 15 as threading "its way upstream along a narrow, steep-sided valley.

[4]: 135  By 1972 SAM-2 missiles covered approaches to the pass, forcing B-52s and gunships to keep their distance reducing the interdiction effort.

[6] In 1967, at the request of the United States Department of Defense, the JASON (advisory group) considered the possibility of detonating a tactical nuclear weapon at the Mụ Giạ Pass to halt PAVN transportation on the Ho Chi Minh Trail.