Nestled among densely forested uplands in northern Alberta, Swan Hills sits at the junction of Highway 32 and the Grizzly Trail, roughly 80 kilometres north of Whitecourt and about 62 kilometres northwest of Fort Assiniboine. The town is entirely surrounded by Big Lakes County and holds a notable geographic distinction: it is the closest major settlement to the precise centre of the province. In 1989, a local resident named Roy Chimiuk used a minimum bounding box method to pinpoint that centre, placing a commemorative cairn at approximately 54°30’N 115°0’W, some 30 kilometres south of the town. That location is now protected within the Centre of Alberta Natural Area, accessible via a 3-kilometre hike from Highway 33.
Swan Hills grew out of a base camp established to support workers in the Swan Hills oilfield. Between 1959 and 1961, the Alberta government and oil companies jointly developed the present townsite, relocating accommodations and facilities from a nearby location. The name ‘Swan Hills’ was drawn from the surrounding forested uplands, though ‘Chalmers’ – after T.W. Chalmers, who surveyed and cut the Klondike Trail through the region – was also considered. Informally, residents called it ‘Oil Hills’. Incorporated as the New Town of Swan Hills on September 1, 1959, with R.L. Maxfield appointed as Development Officer and Secretary Treasurer, the community grew quickly as oilfield workers brought their families to the area. The first land auction in November 1959 sold 24 parcels of industrial land, and the first all-weather road was completed in 1960, replacing an unreliable forestry road to Fort Assiniboine. The town was officially opened by Premier Ernest Manning in June 1962. Its status changed to a full town on January 1, 1967, making it the first town incorporated during Canada’s centennial year, with Tom Parkinson elected as its first mayor. In November 1965, Swan Hills became the most northerly town in Alberta to receive natural gas service, supplied by Northwestern Utilities. Surrounded by boreal forest, the town has been evacuated at least six times due to wildfire threats, in 1972, 1981, 1983, twice in 1998, again in 2023, and most recently in May 2025 during the Grizzly Complex wildfire. In response, Swan Hills has implemented a FireSmart program to reduce fire fuel within and around the community.