Back to The Crater of Diamonds

April 15-17, 2024

Hi Blog!

We're back! It's been two years, but we finally made it back to the Arkansas Crater of Diamonds State Park. We first visited the park in April 2022 and did a lot of digging and collected gravels to take home. Click the link to our prior blog for all the history and background on the process. We did bring back some possible diamonds for the park geologist to examine. Unfortunately, they turned our to be quartz and amethyst. However, hope springs eternal and we returned to the field to try our luck one last time.

For this visit, we made arrangements with Lovejoy Diamonds to rent a wagon complete with screens, shovels and buckets. While you can rent equipment from the State Park, they only have a few wagons. By renting ahead of time, we could leave the Jeep in the campground and pull the wagon over to the search field with all our stuff.

Rather than use the public wash stations, we decided to use our wagon to wash our gravel. There were several other miners using the spigot, but they brought a splitter, so we could attach our hose without bothering their operation.

The screens come in two sizes. The smaller top screen has large mesh which allows the smaller gravel to pass through. The larger screen has finer mess and holds the small gravel which the diamonds like to hide in. The fine gravel is then transferred to the round saruca which allows the heavy minerals like quartz and diamonds to be concentrated in the center. We scoop out the centers to take home with us.

After cleaning out four 5-gallon buckets, we had filled our 2 gallon bucket with fine, sifted gravel to take home. We took a break for lunch and then decided to stretch our legs by doing a little surface searching. When the sun is bright, it is possible to find diamonds just laying out in the field.

As the day progressed, more and more folks visited the wash station. We were glad we had our own setup to wash our gravel.

However, these Craterheads made us look like pikers. Their four-person team processed dozens and dozens of buckets of gravel.

Most of the pictures we took were from Monday. Thunderstorms were predicted for Tuesday. A heavy rain can wash diamonds from the gravel, making them easier to spot on the surface. Unfortunately, we never really got the rain they predicted. When we returned to the park on Wednesday, it was pretty much the way it was on Monday.

We ended up not staying as long on Wednesday. Lifting buckets of gravel and pulling wagons filled with gear is hard work. Once we returned to camp, it was time to clean up. We ended up taking a shower in the campground bathhouse with our pants on!

.

Crater of Diamonds is a unique experience. While it can be very physical, it is also fun sharing the experience with fellow treasure hunters. 

We have TWO 2-gallon buckets of stones and gravel to take home. Once we get a chance to clean and dry it, we'll let you know if we find any treasure! Stay tuned.