Crater Of Diamonds State Park, Arkansas

                                Saturday 6/8/2013

Before we leave Ashdown, Arkansas, I wanted to make a road trip to Crater Of Diamonds State Park, which was a hour northeast of us.

The roads to the park was a 2 lanes curvy road most the way.

This park has the world's 8th largest diamond reserve.

As you can see this state park has a campground also.

This park is the only diamond producing site that is open to the public in the world.

We found a parking spot in the very full lot and went into the visitor center to use the restrooms and to pay to get in.

We also walked around the visitor center and learned a few things from the exhibits. You can also find agates. jasper, peridot, garnets, fluorite, quartz, ruby, topaz and more here.

We had to learn how to find diamonds. Diamonds are shiny, round, and have a silver tint.

We could find yellow, white, brown and industrial diamonds. Most of the diamonds that are found in the park are the size of a paper match head.

The cost into the diamond mine park is $7 for adults, $4 for children 6-12;  and 5 and under get in free.

After we paid, we went back to the car to get our mining supplies.

With gear in hand, we had to go back through the visitor center, then through the back door toward the Diamond Discovery Center.

The upstairs of the Diamond Discovery Center is a good place to eat your sack lunch if you pack one. If you didn't pack your lunch, there is a restaurant next to this center.

The park also has a really nice water park for the kids.

It was empty as we walked by it at around 10:30 AM.

In the discovery center I found these two exhibits that gave the biggest finds from this diamond field. Can you imagine finding  a 40 carat diamond.

or even a 16 carat diamond.

If you don't bring any supplies, you can rent or purchase them at the park. We rented two box screens, since we didn't have any for $2.50 each plus a $20 deposit.

As Joe walked in with our mining gear, he heard someone say about him, " He has been here before, he knew what to bring"! And I say to that, "No, he had a wife who visited the website the night before to find out what we needed to bring".

Hour to dig in the diamond field are 8:00 to 8:00.

There it is, a 37 acres plowed field laying over a eroded volcanic pipe. You can bring dogs, but they must be on a leash, and they can't be in the gift store, water park, or restaurant. We left Mallery home because she would have been to hot. We were "Blessed" that the sky was filled with big fluffy clouds that gave us a lot of relief during our stay.

There are two washing/processing pavilions in the field.

After you fill your box screens 2/3 full of dirt, you wash the mud off the rocks.

You put the large hole screen over the small hole screen, and push the two screens up and down and then back and forth in the water to wash off the mud.

This was a large hole screen after almost done washing the rocks. 

Then you wash the rock in the small hole screen, and then look for something shiny and round. Nothing in this one. Joe and I spent about 3 hour in the field. We had brought an umbrella, and Joe put it in the field, and I spent most of my time digging in the dirt looking for a find. We had lunch under our umbrella after a hour of digging. There was an announcement over a loud speaker that a second person of the day had found a diamond. Later I walked up and down some of the plowed rows looking for something shiny. (Another way of finding large diamonds). When I got back from combing the rows, Joe said, "guess what I found"? Then he raised up a $5.00 bill he had just found. Leave it to Joe to find money, and not a diamond. He always finds money! I never find money. After 3 hours in the field, Joe said he had had enough of all this fun  (it was around 88 degrees and hot today, and Joe does not do well in heat). My lower back was giving me fits from being bent over on my knees digging, and walking in the uneven field.

As we left I found this model of Crater Of Diamonds State Park. Around 600 to 700 diamonds are found by the visitors every year.

As we walked pass the water park, it was now full with people who had given up on digging and decided to cool off instead!

There are other things you can do if you are staying at the park. If we were staying in the park, we could do some of the trails, but on another day, because we were too sore, hot, and tired to do trails today. We got back to the car and drove the hour back to Millwood Landing Golf RV Resort. One more check off the old bucket list. Diamond mining-check.