Greetings from Crater of Diamonds State Park! First-time visitors often have a lot of questions for our staff. The following are a few of the more common inquiries we hear at the park, along with answers.

What did I find?

This is one of the most common questions we hear. While at the park, the best place to learn what you have found is at the Diamond Discovery Center. Our staff is trained to identify rocks and minerals found at the Crater of Diamonds. Most of our stones have common features that make them easy to identify with practice. For questionable finds, we use additional tests to determine whether a gemstone is a diamond.

For individuals who carry sifted gravel home from the park and have questions about something they find, the best way to get answers is to email photos of the find to [email protected]. Take a few good, close-up pictures on a white or neutral-colored background under natural lighting, if possible. Put a coin or other object of known size by the find for comparison. We cannot guarantee identity or certify diamonds through photos, but we can give an educated guess and offer advice on what to do next if something looks promising.

Though we often identify rocks and minerals in emailed photographs, we cannot accept or identify any finds mailed to the park.

Can I use my wheelchair or electric scooter in the search area?

Visitors who use wheelchairs or electric scooters often use them at the Crater of Diamonds. While our parking area and park facilities are ADA accessible, the diamond search area is a large plowed field and natural area. As such, ease of access depends largely on weather conditions. Dirt paths throughout the field are usually easy to navigate in dry weather, but some areas may be inaccessible during or shortly after rain.

Electric scooters and wheelchairs generally work well in the search area, but caution is required when traveling off paths, especially if the field is freshly plowed.

Many people look for diamonds on top of the ground, as you might search for a dropped earring or coin, but the park’s north washing pavilion also features a wheelchair-accessible water trough where visitors can wet sift for diamonds.

How likely am I to find a diamond?

While most visitors have realistic expectations, many people still ask about the likelihood of leaving the park with a diamond. On average, park staff register between one and two diamonds every day. On busier days, we tend to register more diamonds. March is one of our busiest months and one of the most productive for diamond finds. In terms of overall visitation, we register about one diamond per every 123 visitors.

While statistics reveal long-term trackable information about diamond finds, they can’t tell us about the other great experiences our visitors have. We encourage visitors to focus on the uniqueness of searching for diamonds, rather than the actual discovery. Finding a diamond is exciting, but sometimes the “diamonds” our visitors discover are the memories they make with family and friends.

We hope these answers to some of our most common questions will help you be better prepared to visit the Crater of Diamonds!

Search area last plowed: August 20, 2020

Most recent significant rain: August 27, 2020

Diamond finds for the week of August 16, 2020 (100 points = 1 carat):

• August 17 – Thom Bishop II, California, MO, 1.32 ct. white
• August 19 – Kevin Sears, Hazen, AR, 3 pt. white, 8 pt. white, 12 pt. white
• August 22 – Scott Hilburn, Carrollton, TX, 3 pt. yellow