Crater of Diamonds State Park, AR

First off, y’all, the struggle in 100 degree weather, plus no shade, to get a good picture in front of the park sign with the camera timer turned on was crazy so we did one take & headed on our way into the park! I may should have checked the quality before we left headed back to Alabama! HAHAHA So here’s this gem for your enjoyment  ↓↓↓↓↓↓

Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas was one of the first parks we knew we wanted to visit this year! I mean, who doesn’t want to say they dug up a diamond with their own hands?! The park is a total of 911 acres with 37.5 acres of plowed fields you can dig or surface search & is the only diamond bearing site open to the public. Lucky “miners” have been discovering diamonds since 1906 & one of the days we were there 2 diamonds (1 yellow & 1 white) were found by just walking around surface searching! Most diamonds are found while surface searching (after a good rain or being plowed) or digging pits at least 6-10ft deep!

There are a lot of neat gems you can discover besides diamonds: Agate, Jasper, Amethyst, Lamproite, Mica, Barite, Quartz, Calcite, Sandstone, Conglomerate & Volcanic Tuff. We were able to find all of these, minus Amethyst & unfortunately Diamonds but had a blast digging none the less! There is also a pretty awesome little “water park” on site (make sure you check the operation dates for it as it’s seasonal) & the park also offers a demonstration on using the sifting equipment for newbies on the grass before the field, which we found extremely helpful as well as a video on loop about the park!

(short video showing the dry sifting process above ^^^)

Being first timers, I went online to see what all we would need for the trip only to come up VERY short, which was strange considering how awesome the park is so below you will find a list of what (in my opinion) you SHOULD bring to make the trip more enjoyable! They do offer rental equipment on site & if you’re only going to be a day I would suggest just renting from them or simply surface searching if they have plowed recently (you can call & find out the last time they plowed).

(Crater of Diamonds Mining Field ^^^)

Necessities for Crater of Diamonds NP:
*Chair
*A LOT of water
*Shovel
*Tweezers ( for picking up small gems in dirt without losing them)
*5 gallon bucket (you can carry 5lbs of sifted material home each day to better search through)
*Some kind of wagon because you will get tired of carrying everything back & forth
*Snacks
*Shoes that can get dirty &/or wet, or sandals if you’re not the one operating the shovel
*Sifting kit online if you plan to wet or dry sift multiple days
*SUNSCREEN or a long sleeve shirt & wide brim hat depending on the season
*Small magnifying glass
*Ziplock bag

Overall this was an awesome trip we really enjoyed & can’t wait to go back! We’d love to hear if you’ve been & what all treasures you found!