Digging for Diamonds

     Sunday and Monday

     June 19 & 20, 2011

Crater of Diamonds State Park

Murfreesboro, Arkansas

As long as I was in the area, I decided to try and find some diamonds.  The campground is very nice and I had a really good site and the end of a cul-de-sac. A crazy male cardinal was attacking my windows shortly after I parked and it tried to hang onto the screens on the side window and it came back when I was leaving.

Cardinal

Monday evening

It was hot when I arrived Sunday afternoon, so I did not go out into the Diamond Fields right away. On Sunday evening I walked over to the visitor center. I wanted to go in the Diamond Discovery Center to watch the video and find out what this was all about. I found out that I needed a ticket to the fields in order to go to the center. I paid $7.00 and the ticket was good for Monday, also. After going to the Discovery Center, I decided to walk out to the fields. I didn't have any equipment with me. I just walked around picking up some small colored stones (Jasper). They say that some of the large diamonds were found by people just walking around looking at the ground. The best time to find diamonds if after it rains. The diamonds have an oily exterior and dirt and mud will not stick to diamonds. No rain here, it was very dry.

The park employees will identify everything that you pick up and you can keep anything that you find.

Monday morning I went to the fields at 8am when they opened, I didn't want to be out there in the heat of the midday sun. The day was overcast with a constant breeze, so it didn't feel as hot as previous days. I stayed in the fields for around 4 hours - part of the time under the shade of a tree. I took a camp stool with me and my folding camping shovel and I rented a screen from the park. You can also use a process of washing the dirt using 3 screens but I did not feel like playing in the mud. Equal amounts of diamonds are found using the dry method or the wet method.

2 nights in the campground               =  56.00

2 days in the field                              =    7.00

A pocket full of colored stones         =    0.00

A  quiet and scenic campsite        PRICELESS!

It was very meditative sitting outside and playing with the gravel, moving it around over and over to see if there is something hidden in the pile of dirt and gravel and rocks.

No diamonds for me, just a few crystals, a piece of Hematite and a lot of Jasper and some other stones and volcanic rock.

Sitting in the field - searching for a diamond - made me think of gambling. You pay a fee and hope to come out with a jackpot. Sitting outside and enjoying the scenery is much better that sitting in a casino anyday and the odds are probably the same.