Greetings from Crater of Diamonds State Park! Many first-time guests to the Crater wonder the same things when they arrive. Here are answers to a few of the more common questions we hear.

How many tools do I need?

The answer depends on how you plan to search and how well you share. Surface searching requires no tools and can be done by scanning the ground for a diamond’s metallic shine. Visitors often surface search when they can’t stay long or take a break from sifting for diamonds. Kids often find diamonds this way, too!

If the ground is dry, you can sift dirt using a fine screen. Two or three people can use one screen and take turns dry sifting and surface searching. This option is especially popular for families with young children.

Two or three people can share a bucket, shovel, and two or more screens in graduated sizes to wet sift for diamonds. One person can scout areas to dig a bucket of dirt while another uses screens to sift and sort gravel for diamonds. The person using the screens flips the gravel onto a flat surface to check the bottom of the pile for a diamond’s metallic shine. At this point, someone else can use the screens to sift more dirt. Examining washed gravel for a diamond takes time, allowing multiple people to use the same screen set. For larger groups, we recommend extra screen sets, instead of buckets and shovels.

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Does the park ever run out of rental tools?

The park has several dozen screens, buckets, and shovels available for rent. Though we get very busy at certain times of the year, there are generally enough tools for everyone to rent what they need each day.

Where can I search for diamonds?

The boundary of the park’s diamond search area is clearly marked with yellow signs. Visitors may search anywhere in the search area, at least 15 feet from any trees or shrubs. While most of the search area is plowed periodically to loosen the soil, lower drainage areas stay wet longer and are more difficult to plow. However, they are also open for diamond searching.

We hope the answers to these common questions will help you make the most of your next visit to Crater of Diamonds State Park!

Of Interest

Search area last plowed: April 6, 2021

Most recent significant rainfall: May 11, 2021

Diamond finds for the week of May 2, 2021 (100 points = 1 carat):

May 2 – Becky Reynolds, Columbia, MO, 69 pt. yellow

May 5 – David Anderson, Murfreesboro, AR, 17 pt. brown; Brian Hester, Shreveport, LA, 31 pt. white; Sydney Easton & Bobby Banister, Nashville, TN, 35 pt. brown

May 8 – Nicole Silveira Johnson, Delight, AR, 7 pt. yellow