The Highwood originates in the Canadian Rockies in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, in the Highwood Pass below Mount Arethusa. It flows south and is paralleled by the Kananaskis Trail between Elbow-Sheep Wildland, Don Getty Wildland and Emerson Creek Park. It turns east and flows along Highway 541 and through the community of Longview. Continuing east, it passes through High River, ending when it enters the Bow River southeast of Calgary.