Ashcroft

The Jade Capital of Canada — a desert canyon town steeped in Gold Rush history.

Ashcroft sits in the Thompson River canyon at the edge of BC's semi-arid interior, a town with deep roots in the Cariboo Gold Rush and the history of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Once a major supply hub for the goldfields at Barkerville, Ashcroft was a bustling commercial centre in the late 1800s, and its heritage buildings and museum tell the story of that remarkable era. The town is known as the Jade Capital of Canada — the surrounding hills contain some of the richest nephrite jade deposits in the world, and jade mining remains an important part of the local economy. The Ashcroft Museum and Archives is one of the finest small-town museums in BC, with extensive collections on the Gold Rush, the CPR, and the Japanese-Canadian community that farmed the benchlands above town before being forcibly relocated during the Second World War. Ashcroft Manor, established in 1862 by two English brothers who came for the Gold Rush and stayed to ranch, is one of the oldest ranches in BC and a designated heritage site. The Thompson River below town offers excellent fishing for steelhead and rainbow trout, and the dramatic canyon scenery draws photographers and nature lovers year-round. The dry desert landscape of sagebrush and golden hills is unlike anything else in Canada.