MURFREESBORO -- Spring break is right around the corner, and Crater of Diamonds State Park is offering a few tips for people who plan to visit the park in March and April.
First, plan to arrive early. The park opens at 8 a.m. and gets busy quickly during spring break. "The earlier you arrive, the less time you'll spend buying tickets and renting tools before beginning your diamond search. Be sure and see the diamonds on display in our visitor center and Diamond Discovery Center to get an idea of what you'll be searching for," the park said in a news release.
"If you arrive in Murfreesboro the day before you plan to search, consider making a preview visit to the park," the release said.
Admission to the diamond search area purchased after 3 p.m. this time of year is also good for the following day. The search area closes at 4 p.m. daily, and many visitors spend this final hour familiarizing themselves with the field and deciding where they want to search the next day.
Check the weather forecast before visiting, and pack the right clothes to be comfortable outside. "Wear old shoes or rubber boots, especially if rain is in the mix. If you plan to wet sift for diamonds, wear thick rubber gloves to keep your hands dry and warm in cold water," the release said.
The park rents all of the necessary tools to search for diamonds, but visitors can also bring their own mining equipment.
"Even if you've never mined for diamonds before, you probably have a few tools at home that would work. Many visitors bring buckets, shovels, or small hand tools from home to help offset the cost of rental equipment; some even bring their own colanders or homemade screens to sift dirt and gravel," the release said.
A fine, one-sixteenth of an inch screen mesh will catch most diamonds at the park while allowing dirt to sift through.
After sifting gravel at the park, keep it in a bucket or other container to take home and carefully search through later. To help conserve the park's resources, unsifted dirt may not be removed from the Crater of Diamonds search area. However, the park allows each paid visitor to keep up to 5 gallons of sifted gravel, per day.
"Believe it or not, about half of all diamonds found by visitors are discovered in sifted gravel taken home from the park," the release said.
Diamond finds for the weeks of Jan. 20 and 27 include the following (100 points equals 1 carat):
• Jan. 20 -- Avalanche Daigle, Rochester, N.H., 33-point white.
• Jan. 21 -- Dave Rhodes, Hot Springs, 12-point white, 91-point white; Jack Pearadin, Murfreesboro, 4-point white.
• Jan. 22 -- Stuart Eden, Tulsa, Okla., 12-point white.
• Jan. 23 -- Jack Pearadin, Murfreesboro, 27-point brown; Troy McDuffie, Reserve, La., 15-point brown, 18-point white.
• Jan. 24 -- Brian and Venus Hill, Murfreesboro, 8-point white; Troy McDuffie, Reserve, La., 8-point white.
• Jan. 25 -- Jack Pearadin, Murfreesboro, 14-point yellow; Dave Rhodes, Hot Springs, 7-point white.
• Jan. 26 -- Troy Savage, Antlers, Okla., 4-point white, 4-point white.
• Jan. 27 -- Boning and Lei Zhang, Beijing, China, 11-point white.
• Jan. 30 -- David and Derek DeCook, Racine, Minn., 35-point white.
• Jan. 31 -- Brian and Venus Hill, Murfreesboro, 7-point white.
• Feb. 1 -- Jack Pearadin, Murfreesboro, 12-point white.
• Feb. 2 -- Troy Savage, Antlers, Okla., 8-point yellow; Sam Jones, Fayetteville, 3-point yellow.
Entertainment on 02/13/2019