Visitors to state park dig up 3-carat diamond, theirs to keep

On Saturday, September 13, a family from Cookson, Okla., visited Crater of Diamonds State Park and unearthed a brown diamond weighing nearly three carats. The proud family took it home at no charge, a valuable prize for their efforts.

Raynae Madison and her family went to Arkansas for the weekend to celebrate her nephew’s birthday when they decided to stop at Crater of Diamonds State Park. To prepare for their visit, they purchased a beach digging kit and sand sifting tools from a dollar store.

The family picked a spot to dig on the north side of the park’s 37.5-acre diamond search area, near Prospector Trailhead. After digging a few buckets, they were sifting dirt through their purchased screens when Madison noticed an unusual oblong, shiny stone. “At first I thought it looked really neat, but I wasn’t sure what it was,” she said. “I honestly thought it was too big to be a diamond!”

After showing her family, they took the stone to the park’s Diamond Discovery Center, where staff identified it as a diamond weighing 2.79 carats. The diamond is described as chocolate brown, with unique inclusions.

Brown diamonds

“Brown diamonds from the Crater occur due to a process called plastic deformation, which creates structural defects during a diamond’s formation or movement in magma,” said Emma O’Neal, Park Interpreter at Crater of Diamonds State Park. “These defects reflect red and green light, combining to make the diamond appear brown.”

Many visitors choose to name the diamonds they find at Crater of Diamonds State Park. Madison chose to name her gem the William Diamond, in honor of her nephew.

The William Diamond is the third-largest diamond registered at the park this year, surpassing a 2.30-carat diamond found at the end of July. “2025 has been a great year for large diamond finds!” said O’Neal. “So far, we have registered four diamonds weighing over two-carats.” As of this publication, 403 diamonds have been registered at Crater of Diamonds State Park this year.

Diamonds found at the park come in many colors. The most common are white, brown and yellow, in that order.  In total, more than 75,000 diamonds have been unearthed at the state park since the first diamonds were discovered in 1906 by John Huddleston, a farmer who owned the land long before it became an Arkansas State Park in 1972.

Largest diamond discovered in the U.S.

The largest diamond ever discovered in the United States was unearthed in 1924 during an early mining operation on the land that later became Crater of Diamonds State Park. Named the Uncle Sam, this white diamond with a pink cast weighed 40.23 carats. It was later cut into a 12.42-carat emerald shape. The Uncle Sam is now part of the Smithsonian’s mineral and gem collection and can be seen at the National Museum of Natural History.

Another well-known diamond from the park is the Strawn-Wagner. Found in 1990 by Murfreesboro resident Shirley Strawn, this 3.03-carat white gem was cut into a round brilliant shape weighing 1.09 carats. It graded as ideal cut, D-colorless and flawless, and was set in a platinum and 24-carat gold ring. In 1998, the state of Arkansas purchased this diamond for $34,700 in donations and placed it on permanent display at the park visitor center.

Crater of Diamonds State Park is located on Arkansas Highway 301 in Murfreesboro, Arkansas. It is one of the only places in the world where the public can search for real diamonds in their original volcanic source. The park is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily (except New Year’s Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve afternoon and Christmas Day).

Learn more at ArkansasStateParks.com.

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