Well, I finally made it to the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro, Arkansas. I’ve always been interested in rocks, so what better way to indulge in stones by digging for diamonds?
The Crater of Diamonds State Park is only a four hour drive from my hometown of Dallas, Texas. So, I don’t know why it has taken me so long to try my luck. Especially with a recent trip to Mena and passing through the state too many times to count for horse shows in Gulfport and Ocala.
The good news is that now my piqued interest in digging for diamonds has been satisfied. For anyone else who wants to try their luck, below is a helpful guide.
Table of Contents
About Crater of Diamonds State Park
First, a little about Crater of Diamonds State Park. The park is the only place in the world where the public may dig for diamonds in their original volcanic source. Along with diamonds, the 37-acre field features other rocks and minerals including amethyst, garnet, jasper, agate, and quartz.
While digging for diamonds is the main attraction, before I go into the process, I should mention that the Crater of Diamonds State Park also includes two short hiking trails (one that goes around the crater), picnic sites, a campground with 47 class AAA campsites and a few tent sites, a gift shop, and seasonal water park.
So, if not everyone in your party is interested in rocks and minerals, they can at least find something else to do for a few hours while you strike gold, or diamonds, that is.
Things to Bring to Dig For Diamonds
Being my first time at the park, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I quickly learned. The experts brought their own equipment in their wagon including a shovel, buckets, and screens. They also had snacks, chairs, gloves, hats and a sunshade as the digging takes place in a wide open, plowed field.
If you are not prepared like me, you may rent a Basic Diamond Searching Kit which includes an army shovel, screen set, and 3.5 gallon bucket. A wagon costs additional money, and the park was sold out of them when I arrived on a weekday afternoon. Fortunately, I had a folding wagon in my van for my horse show gear and used that as a bucket of rocks is heavy!!
Take Home a Bucket
I spoke to a lady from Minnesota with a wagon full of buckets who was visiting for her fourteenth time and stayed at the park for three days to collect buckets of rocks. I say collect because visitors are allowed to remove a five-gallon bucket of wet sifted stones a day. (More of the sifting process later.)
She said she has found diamonds seven times, but only once at the park. The rest of the times she found the diamonds in the buckets of material she took home. She said the winters are long in Minnesota, so she sifts for her diamonds at home.
Unless you are extremely patient, taking a bucket of rocks home is the best way to search for diamonds. In fact, if you don’t want to dig and wet sift at the Crater of Diamonds State Park, you may buy a bag of rocks in the gift shop. I’m reminded of the Gem Mountain Sapphire Mine in Phillipsburg, Montana that will ship a party bag of gravel with a chance to find sapphires!
Size of the Diamonds
Before you jump into digging for diamonds, I should mention that while the parks touts that 35,000 diamonds have been found with the largest, “Uncle Sam”, measuring 40.23 carats, most of the diamonds are a third of the size of a BB. Yes, that’s right! A local expert at the wet sifting station in the diamond, asked me if I knew what a BB looked like, and then told me they were smaller than that!
I thought to myself, well I didn’t need to lug some of the larger rocks in my bucket to the wet sifting station then! Not to mention, I’m not sure my eyesight is good enough to find something that small. Though they say you will know immediately when you spot one with their shiny, slick appearance.
How to Dig for Diamonds
Anyway, about the digging process. The field of rows has a few sections. Big diamond finds in each section are marked with a giant shovel. The section to the left and closest to the entrance is the most popular as most of the diamonds are found there.
It is best to search for diamonds after the park plows the field or after a rain. The field is plowed about once a month in the spring, summer, and fall. Of course, it hadn’t rain for weeks when I visited.
Diamonds are heavier than other rocks, so the water carries them to the valleys, so these are the best places to dig. During my visit, first I strolled around the field as according to the visitor center video, it is possible to find a surface diamond. Also, I wanted to take my dog Annie for a little stroll. Yes, dogs are allowed to join because the rangers at Crater of Diamonds State Park were getting too many reports dogs being left in vehicles.
After strolling, I settled down in a low spot not far from the path and started digging. I shoveled the gravel into the screens and dry sifted the smaller rocks and pebbles into the bucket. Once I filled the 3.5-gallon bucket, which didn’t take long, I wheeled my wagon to the wet sifting station.
Wet Sifting
It took longer to wet sift, but this is a requirement to take any gravel with you. At the sifting station, I filled the screens with a few scoops of material, sloshed the screens side to side in the water, and ran my hand across the rocks to loosen any dirt. Then I dumped the smaller pieces into a bucket I purchased from the gift shop and discarded the rest. I learned to wear gloves, roll up your sleeves, and slip your feet into flip flops unless you want a wet shirt and shoes.
The gloves are important as the volcanic gravel works as a great exfoliant and after one bucket, no calluses were left on my hands. In fact, they were feeling a bit raw. Eventually, I ended up with a small bucket of rocks to take home to hunt for diamonds.
As I sifted, I pulled out a few interesting looking stones that I took to the onsite gemologist. She whipped through my small pile, identifying the rocks and minerals in seconds. After two hours at the Crater of Diamonds State Park, I can confirm that I at least found some jasper! On my way out, I popper around the quaint town of Murfreesboro, before making my way home.
Who knows if there is a diamond in my rubble. I will have to update this post after we have a few bad weather days in Texas. ETB
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How fun! Hopefully you get at least one diamond out of all that effort.
I know! And I hope it is bigger than 1/3 of a BB size 😂