Crater of Diamonds State Park — Attraction in Murfreesboro

It was great a bit hot for mid October, definitely bring an umbrella if you go and the sun is going to be shining 🌞. I'm going to start with parking, there's very limited handicap parking, I believe only 4 maybe 5 spaces and I really wish I could have gotten one. My family and I got there around 10am only 3 hours after the park opened and all the front spaces were already taken so we had to park at the top that's connected to the front parking lot, that's a very long walk to the entrance of where you pay to enter to the next walk to the dig area, after paying you walk a sidewalk to a ramp if you have a wagon with supplies if not I suggest you take the steps after that your on your way to dig and its huge, there's room for lots of people you won't have no one next to you. I've had lower back surgery and that walk for my sister in law and I it put us in a state that we didn't get to stay as long as we would have liked but there's plans to go back. So the only way to go next time is to go Early, its a 2 hour drive from Little Rock to the Crater so I definitely suggest to anyone if you have any back or leg problems and you want to enjoy your time, leave early. The park is very well kept no trash laying around and everyone puts trash in its place, the bathroom is clean and well kept for as many visitors that pass through, also when you leave be prepared to walk that same walk back up the ramp through the pay area/ gift shop and back to your car, we thought there was a door to leave out of on the outside bottom floor but its not that's the identification area. If your making plans to go just remember get there as early as possible if you have back or leg problems and Good Luck with your dig and have a great time... O I almost forgot, there is a few cool down stations with...

We stayed in the campground at the park (admission to the digging field is $15ea if you aren't camping there.) A full hook up site is about $50 per night. Sites are nice and wide, shady and quiet. The digging field opens at 10 and closes at 4. You can rent equipment from the main office or bring your own. No power tools allowed. Shovels, rakes, screen boxes, gloves and small bags for anything you find. They teach you how to "mine" and offer tips to help you be more successful. There are historical displays and lots of people to answer questions. TIPS: 1. DON'T go in the summer. The fields is wide open- no shade- and this is in Arkansas. You can drown in the humidity alone! #2: DON'T dress to impress. You will get dirty - VERY dirty if it's rained. #3. There is little to do in town. Plan to make your own fun after 4:00.:) #4: DO bring a little cart or wagon. You'll have a lot of stuff and it's quite a walk up steps and ramps and into the field. DON'T have high expectations. There are very pretty stones, but diamonds are few and far between and you can find chips or small stones and not even be aware that it's a diamond at all. Go for the fun, find some pretty stones that you can tumble into pretty "gems" to use in crafts or jewelry. There is a nice gift shop and there are people there who will tell you what you found - no charge. The park allows pets just about everywhere (CLEAN UP AFTER THEM), except in the gift shop or the water park. The waterpark is small and when we were there in late September they were closed. It seems clean and safe and I'll bet people would be willing to pay$100 to get in there on a sunny July afternoon!! This is a fun thing to do if you don't think you're going to walk out of there with a way to pay off your...

I had a great time with my family but consider the experience pricey for what it is, especially if you have a large group and need to rent equipment. I'm not a fan of the expensive equipment deposit nor the fact that there were no half/end-of-day options like there are at many of the quartz mines. Be mindful that equipment rents out quickly, so you could very well buy a ticket and have considerably limited options for renting digging necessities, thereby driving you back into the ticketing and gift shop to purchase overly priced digging tools. We were very lucky, but the family behind us was not. There really should be communication with the rental store to the ticket counter to inform ticketing if necessary items like shovels and sifters are not available BEFORE tickets are actually purchased.

I would also highly recommend NOT going the day after it rains unless you're properly dressed (mud-to-knees) and ready to put in some serious hours at the trough rinsing and sifting all the water-heavy clay/dirt. Nonetheless, if you've never been to the Crater of Diamonds, it's worth the experience, even if only to check it off your bucket list. One 5pt diamond was found by noon of the day...