Murfreesboro, Arkansas -- Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro is set to celebrate two big milestones this year. March 15 marks 40 years since the site’s creation as an Arkansas state park... and sometime soon, the 30,000th diamond found since the park’s opening will be unearthed.
The latest count of diamonds found at the park is 29,934 -- just 66 short of 30,000. The park plans to commemorate the find.
Last year, 106,524 people visited Crater of Diamonds State Park. It was a record year for diamond finds, with more than 500 dug up by visitors. Thirty of those diamonds were over one carat in weight.
The search area at the park is a 37 1/2 acre plowed field on the eroded surface of the eighth largest diamond-bearing deposit in the world (in surface area). Crater of Diamonds State Park is the world’s only diamond-producing site open to the public.
Crater of Diamonds State Park is located two miles southeast of downtown Murfreesboro. For more information contact Justin Dorsey, park superintendent, Crater of Diamonds State Park, at 870-285-3113, or email him at justin.dorsey@arkansas.gov. Crater of Diamonds State Park is located at 209 State Park Road in Murfreesboro.
The 2.67-carat yellow diamond found in 2007 by Jim Gatliff.