Crater of Diamonds State Park

Last week was spring break.  So I took my son to Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas.

As I was trying to do this on the cheap we camped. The park was full, so we camped at Murfreesboro RV Park.  I'll do a more in-depth review of where we camped, but one note.... Don't go anywhere else. Definitely camp there!

So just a review of the Park.

In a few words:  Mud, Mud, Mud and more Mud.
Its best to look for diamonds after a recent rain, but that invites boot swallowing mud.

Starting out!

  
It was a foggy morning.  Nice and muddy.

The field is huge.  37.5 Acres of plowed dirt. Which after rain turns into mud and clay.

Several people have buckets lined up to process for diamonds.

Pardon the pun, but its like looking for a needle in a haystack... or finding the diamond in the rough. :)


Here is one of the few wash stations to sift the gravel from the mud.  In that gravel is diamonds (and quartz, garnets, spinelles, etc.)



 One tip I got was look for gravel. Since diamonds are heavy rocks that's where you'll find them.

Overall its a fun experience.  But in the future, I think I'll only spend 1/2 a day there.  About mid-day right after lunch, my son started to get bored.  I think it would have been more exciting if we had found a diamond.

Food Cart on site.

The weather was wonderful for end of March.  It was mid 60's into 70's.  The sun peeked out a little in the afternoon.

Another reason I would only go 1/2 a day, is because it was just myself and my son.  So who ended up carrying most of the equipment and 5 gallon bucket full of rocks and dirt?  That's right... ME.

Aiden sifting gravel, looking for diamonds.

This rain gear picture was taken in the same day as the rest.

Pretty much spent the entire day, looking for gravel, sifting gravel, finding big pretty jasper rocks, finding some quartz, and pulling our stuck boots out of mud.

There is a wash station near the entrance to wash off your boots and gear.  It gets very crowded near closing time and when a rain shower moves through and everyone is running off the field.

He was determined to have this picture next to the diamond.

We didn't find any, but it was still a fun, learning experience.

If you want a better chance at finding a diamond, stay at Murfreesboro RV Park.  They offer lessons in how to better detect diamonds.

This is info that really isn't offered anywhere else.

Be prepared for hard work.. lots of stooping, bending, carrying heavy buckets of dirt, mud, clay, and rocks.

I used buckets to sit on, until I had a suitable amount of gravel.

They allow you to take a 5 gallon bucket of washed gravel out of the park... I could barely manage 1/2 a bucket by myself.

BTW: Why would you leave with gravel? You can sift it later and look more closely.