Gold in the Okanagan and Similkameen

October 18, 2026

The South Okanagan and Similkameen are home to UP8, and they have a gold story of their own. Here is a short, sourced look at three places in it.

Steep rocky mountainside above Hedley, BC, with old mine workings visible on the slope
The mountainside above Hedley, where gold was mined on Nickel Plate Mountain.
Photo: B&B-Traveller, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Rock Creek

According to the BC Geological Survey's MINFILE record, placer gold was first discovered on Rock Creek in 1860. The creek produced well for a few years, but work had almost stopped by 1900, with a small revival from 1930 to 1935. MINFILE notes that some platinum was recovered with the gold.

Fairview, near Oliver

The Oliver & District Heritage Society tells how Fred Gwatkins and George Sheehan staked a claim in the hills about 5 km west of present-day Oliver in 1887, and the Stemwinder mine began work the next year. By 1892 Fairview was a boom town with 10 mines, 5 stamp mills and 4 hotels. The Hotel Fairview, built in 1897, burned in 1902; after the price of gold dropped in 1903 and the mines were worked out, all the mines had closed by 1906. Today only ruins and foundations remain.

Autumn view of Vaseux Lake in the South Okanagan with red sumac in the foreground and rocky bluffs beyond
Vaseux Lake, between Okanagan Falls and Oliver, in autumn.
Photo: Judy Gallagher, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Hedley and the Nickel Plate

A history published in the province's property files records that the first claims on Nickel Plate Mountain above Hedley were staked in 1896, organized production began in 1904, and the mine ran until 1955. A local claim called the Mascot Fraction sat over part of the ore; Hedley Mascot Gold Mines worked it from 1936 to 1949. The Mascot buildings still cling to the mountainside, and the Upper Similkameen Indian Band has led work to preserve the site.

The Similkameen River near Princeton in fall, with yellow cottonwoods along a gravel bar
The Similkameen River near Princeton in fall.
Photo: Shaundd, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Much of the country described here is the traditional territory of First Nations. In the South Okanagan and Similkameen, that is the territory of the Syilx (Okanagan) people, whose member communities include the Osoyoos, Penticton, Upper Similkameen and Lower Similkameen Indian Bands. We are grateful to live and work here.

Sources



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