This Traveler Discovered a 2.3-carat Diamond on the Solely U.S. State Park That Lets You Dig for Diamonds

In a state park that permits you to dig for diamonds, you by no means know what you may discover.

A minimum of that was the case for Micherre Fox. She traveled from New York to Arkansas to spend a month at Crater of Diamonds State Park, one of many solely locations within the U.S. that produces diamonds and lets guests seek for them. Fox hoped to discover a diamond for her engagement ring when she arrived in Arkansas on July 8. Nevertheless, it wasn’t till her final day looking out that she obtained fortunate.

Whereas strolling alongside the West Drain of the park on July 29, she noticed one thing shiny at her ft, and realized the glistening object was a stone. It appeared clear to her that it was in all probability a diamond. She introduced the stone to the Diamond Discovery Middle and it was confirmed that what she had discovered was a white diamond that weighed 2.3 carats. 

“Having by no means seen an precise diamond in my fingers, I didn’t know for certain, but it surely was essentially the most ‘diamond-y diamond’ I had seen,” Fox informed Arkansas State Parks. “I obtained on my knees and cried, then began laughing.”

Because the first diamonds have been found within the space in 1906, over 75,000 diamonds have been discovered on the Crater of Diamonds State Park. Diamonds can are available all colours, although the three commonest colours discovered on the Arkansas park are white, brown, and yellow.

The park can also be the place the biggest diamond in america wad found. It was uncovered in 1924 throughout a mining operation on the land that later turned Crater of Diamonds State Park. The diamond was white with a pink forged, and weighed 40.23 carats earlier than it was reduce all the way down to a 12.42 carat emerald-shaped stone. It at present resides within the Smithsonian’s gem assortment on the Nationwide Museum of Pure Historical past.

Many guests who discover diamonds on the Crater of Diamonds State Park select to call them, and Fox has determined to name hers the Fox-Ballou Diamond, after her and her associate’s final names, and can use it in her engagement ring as she had hoped.

As of August 2025, there have been 366 diamonds discovered and registered on the park in 2025, and 11 have weighed a couple of carat. Fox’s discover is the third-largest diamond discovered on the park to this point this yr.