Rare large diamond unearthed at state park

The largest diamond discovered at a site famous for them was unearthed on May Day.

Arkansas State Parks announced at the beginning of the month that David DeCook, a regular visitor to Crater of Diamonds State Park, stumbled upon a large gem during his most recent visit to that public playground.

“About an hour after entering the park’s 37.5-acre plowed diamond search area on Monday, April 21, DeCook made his way down a hill south of the park’s south wash pavilion, where he spotted the diamond almost immediately,” the Arkansas park authority said.

DeCook first thought it was a candy wrapper. Upon further inspection, he soon discovered that it was a large brown-hued diamond.

The 3.81-carat diamond is the largest any visitor to Crater of Diamonds State Park has found so far in 2025 and one of the largest diamonds discovered there ever, Arkansas State Parks said.

There was no word from the state park agency on how much the diamond might be worth.

Assistant Park Superintendent Waymon Cox said that the park had experienced a “very wet month” preceding DeCook’s visit. Rains help was away the mud and dirt, exposing diamonds on the surface.

Though DeCook’s find was significant enough for Crater of Diamonds managers to crow about it, a much larger stone was discovered last year.

In January 2024 Julien Navas, a tourist from France, discovered a beautiful 7.46-carat diamond that was later registered with the park, as was DeCook’s diamond.

Crater of Diamonds State Park unique among the world’s public parks as one of the only publicly accessible areas where people can prospect for diamonds scattered on the ground. The diamonds are of volcanic origin.