Crater of Diamonds State Park, Arkansas

Your family vacation to Arkansas could wind up paying for itself - and a whole lot more.

Crater of Diamonds State Park, where the policy is “finders keepers,” hosts thousands of visitors per year. Established in 1972, there are 59 water/electric equipped campsites a visitor center, hundreds of acres of natural forest and an aquatic playground, but the park’s main feature is its 37-acre plowed prospecting area.

All types of rocks and minerals, including diamonds of all colors of the rainbow, have been found at Crater of Diamonds and Any diamond, semi-precious stone, rock or mineral unearthed are the visitor’s to keep, regardless of value.

Notable finds from 2006: In May a 4.21 ct canary yellow diamond was found by an Oklahoma State Trooper and a lady from Kansas, along with her son, found a 2.12 ct light lemon yellow diamond just two weeks later. In June a 9 year old girl from Illinois found a 1.11 white diamond speculated to be flawless in clarity. Park officials noted that the gem was the 218th diamond found by visitors at the park in 2006.

In 1924 a 40.23 ct diamond, the largest found in the United States, was unearthed inside what are now park boundaries.