Fisherville Historic Site

Fisherville is a historic site about a 30 minute drive from Cranbrook. Fisherville is the first town in the East Kootenays that was settled by non-natives. In 1864 a group led by Jack Fisher discovered gold along the banks of wild horse creek. Once word got out about the discovery of gold in the area miners flocked to the area and by fall of 1864 over 1000 miners lived in the town. Soon thereafter the town developed to about 5000 inhatitants and boasted 6 general stores, 4 saloons, a number of restaurants, a breweryand hundreds of miner shacks.

By the end of 1865 the easily accessible gold had been depleted and many of the miners in the area moved to find their fortune elsewhere. After these miners left Chinese miners came to the area and reworked preivious claims until they were depleted once again. Fisherville is a classic example of a boom-and-bust gold rush town.

Nowadays you can walk the trails of the past through a well-signed interpretative trail through the remnants of Fisherville. 

You can start your hike here from Cranbrook.

For a full day itinerary filled with history and gold panning, check out this website!