Crater of Diamonds

@Techntrek

Originally posted by Keith-N-Dar He went back to work and is still talking with us, so I guess that he didn't strike it rich in the diamond fields.

some kid found a 3 1/2 carat the other day worth about $12000

Yeah, we missed that big find by about 3 weeks.  And we were drenched in a buckets-pouring downpour but I didn't know at the time that after a rain is the best time to walk around looking for stuff on the surface!  That kid found his right after they started for the day so for all I know I walked right past the thing after the rain...  

We loved it.  My wife wasn't too enthusiastic about it at first but all four of us agreed it was a bunch of fun digging around in the dirt and using the water tables.  We definitely want to go back.  Now that I've read up more on it I know I need to dig down a few feet to get to the gravel where the diamonds are so I'll take a real shovel next time.  Plus I'll take some buckets to take the coarse stuff home after doing an initial sifting.  The pros do the final sifting at home.  We'll also spend more time.  This time around we only planned on doing it 9-12 partly because of our travel schedule, partly because I've read it can get nasty hot out there in the field and I didn't want to be there at the hottest part of the day.  We ended up staying an extra hour since we were having fun and it was cool from the rain.  We found a few small pebbles which we kept as "candidates", but once the park employee identified them they were some of the common minerals found there (don't remember the name).  We will do a full day or two next time and bring most/all of our own equipment instead of renting theirs.  Make sure you take separate muddin' shoes for the field.

The campground there is very nice, it was a shame we had such a nice site yet got in after dark and left in the morning to get to the crater.  That's how I felt about Stone Mountain in GA, too.  For a state park the campground at the crater is top-notch, with full hookups, leveled pads, separate leveled gravel pad for an EZ-up or tent, room between sites, and a lot of trees.  We would definitely use it as home base for our next trip there.

Finally as I mentioned in that other thread, we planned on going back to the pod in the parking lot so we could all take showers and have lunch.  The campground isn't far so if you are there for a few days it would be easy to head back there too.

Definitely one of the more fun stops of our trip.

Send Carrie to the spa. My baby brother, his wife and youngest son (12) were just down there about the same time as tech, and they had a great time, stayed in one of the hotels, did a spa day, now they want to go back again, AND finally, 21 years after the Gulf, he says he is ready to go camping again. (My whole family is happy about that. It is a milestone of sorts)