# Crater of Diamonds State Park: legal collecting field guide

Canonical page: https://lithomap.app/resources/field-trips/crater-of-diamonds-arkansas
Last access and rule review: September 18, 2026
Page purpose: Original LithoMap trip-planning reference for an explicitly authorized rock, mineral, or non-dinosaur fossil collecting destination.

## Direct answer

A staffed Arkansas state park where paid visitors search a designated plowed volcanic field and may keep rocks, minerals, and gemstones they legally find under park rules.

## Location and material

- State: Arkansas
- Area: Murfreesboro, Arkansas
- Category: Mineral collecting
- Collection status: Collecting allowed
- Expected material: Diamond, Lamproite indicator minerals, Quartz and other park minerals

## Authorization

Arkansas State Parks expressly authorizes collecting inside the marked diamond-search field after admission. Searching or digging beyond the marked area is prohibited.

## Access

The search field, visitor center, rentals, and programs operate on park schedules that can change seasonally. Check the official site for current admission, hours, weather, and closures.

## Tools, limits, and season

- Tools: Hand-carried tools are allowed within detailed size and safety rules. Motorized or battery-operated mining equipment and ladders are prohibited.
- Limits: Visitors may keep legal finds. Processed concentrate taken out is limited to five gallons per paying customer per day; unprocessed ore may not be removed without staff approval.
- Season and current status: The park operates year-round schedules with seasonal changes. Heat, mud, storms, and water-park operations vary; verify conditions on the visit date.

## Conditions

- Purchase admission before entering the search field.
- Stay inside yellow-marked boundaries.
- Slope excavations safely and never tunnel or undercut.
- Refill excavations at the end of the day.
- Have uncertain finds checked by park staff.

## Geology

The search field exposes deeply weathered volcanic material from a lamproite pipe.

Most finds are not diamonds. Identification should begin with crystal form, luster, hardness-safe observations, and park verification—not wishful color matching.

## Field plan

1. Review the current park rules before packing tools.
2. Ask staff which search method fits the day’s field condition.
3. Keep excavations stable and separated from other visitors.
4. Sort concentrate without blocking shared facilities.
5. Use park identification services for a possible diamond.

## Safety

- Heat, sun, mud, storms, and dehydration are common field concerns.
- Deep or vertical-sided holes are unsafe and regulated.
- Do not use improvised powered equipment.

## Official sources

- Crater of Diamonds State Park — Arkansas State Parks: https://www.arkansasstateparks.com/parks/crater-diamonds-state-park
- Diamond hunting rules and regulations — Arkansas State Parks: https://www.arkansasstateparks.com/sites/default/files/2025-10/diamondhuntingstoragerules2015proof.pdf

This guide is not a permit, reservation, boundary survey, legal opinion, guarantee of access, or promise of a find. Open every official source again before travel. Current signs, closures, permits, claim boundaries, and staff instructions control.