The town was founded as Heatherwood, but the name was changed around 1911 in honour of Edson Joseph Chamberlin, vice-president of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. In the 1950s, upgrading of Highway 16 caused a dramatic increase in private, commercial and industrial traffic. Today, the Yellowhead Highway carries some of the heaviest traffic flow in Alberta and has been declared the second Trans-Canada Highway. In the 1970s, a revitalized coal industry launched the Cardinal River Coal and Luscar Sterco mines in the area. In the 1980s, Pelican Spruce Mills (now Weyerhaeuser Canada) and Sundance Forest Industries (now Edson Forest Products a division of West Fraser Mills Ltd.) became two of Edson's major employers.

Edson lies in the McLeod River valley, immediately east of the Canadian Rockies foothills. The surrounding landscape consists of primarily taiga forest with sand hills and muskeg. The town is at an altitude of 925 metres (3,035 ft). Two provincial parks are west of Edson: Sundance Provincial Park along Sundance Creek and Obed Lake Provincial Park surrounding the three Obed Lakes.

Due to Edson's high elevation, the community experiences a subarctic climate.

The main industries that drive the local economy are resource-based: coal, oil, natural gas and forestry products.

• 53.578889-116.4651 Edson Airport (YET  ^IATA). There is no scheduled passenger flights. Edmonton or Calgary are options.  

• Edson has good connections on Highway 16 (Yellowhead Highway). Highway 16 travels travels from Jasper and British Columbia going east, and from Edmonton going west.
• It is 192 km (119 mi) west of Edmonton along the Yellowhead Highway (16) and 10 km (6.2 mi) east of the intersection with Highway 47.

• SunDog Tours, ☏ +1-780-852-4056, toll-free: +1-888-786-3641, info@sundogtours.com. Operates daily service between Edmonton International Airport and Jasper including stops in downtown Edmonton, Hinton, and Edson. Travel time to Edson from Edmonton International Airport is 3 hours, from downtown Edmonton is 2.25 hours, and from Jasper is 2.5 hours. (updated May 2022)

• Thompson Valley Charters, ☏ +1 877-769-3287. In partnership with Ebus, operates twice per week service between Kamloops and Edmonton with stops in Barriere, Little Fort, Clearwater, Avola, Blue River, Valemount, Mount Robson Provincial Park, Jasper, Hinton, and Edson. Travel time to Edson from Kamloops is 7.25 hours, from Clearwater 5.5 is hours, from Valemount is 3 hours, from Jasper is 2 hours, and from Edmonton is 2.5 hours. (updated Mar 2022)

See also: Rail travel in Canada

• 53.5797-116.43022 Edson station, 5001 1st Avenue West. This is a "sign post" station with no local services. This is a flag stop station. (updated Oct 2023)
  • VIA Rail Canada, ☏ +1 888-842-7245. The Canadian travels between Vancouver and Toronto twice per week in each direction. (updated May 2022)