Hi Michael and Tina!
We just got back from the Crater of Diamonds park--Mom and Dad were visiting and had never stayed in a motor home before, so we piled in and I drove them up there.
We stayed at the Crater of Diamonds State Park attached to the diamond site and it was LOVELY!! Rates were very reasonable (about $17 including water & electric) and we even got a discount since my parents were over 60 ($14.08 total per night). Here's a pic of the loop we were on--the campground is not huge, but you can barely see the other campers:
The campsites are nice and wooded--we were right next to the bathhouse in Site 50 and could barely tell since there were trees between us and it (in the pic, we are just behind the trees on the right of the bath house):
Each site has a picnic table, fire pit and grill (ours were in a nice space behind the moho) and a trash can they empty daily. The dump station was two-sided and reasonable, although there is a definite slant to the right if you pull in on the right side as you are leaving!
Here's the Rockin' A in Spot 50 (for 28' and larger campers):
There is a well-traveled wide gravel trail to the diamond field from the campground, but it has some definite altitude changes! You will want to drive over to their parking lot if you can't walk far or if walking up and down hills bothers you. I am guessing it was about a quarter mile (they said 500 feet when I originally called). Here's the trailhead to the campground from the Visitor Center:
And the Visitor Center itself:
The weather was nice but overcast Saturday when we searched for diamonds, it had not really rained for several days, and they had plowed the field about four days before. We found nothing, but there were seven diamonds found that day, including a 90-pointer. Here's a pic of me that shows part of the field behind me:
You can search by looking, by dry sifting or by sieving (wet panning). I tried eye searching and sieving and was unsuccessful, but enjoyed it a lot! You can have some good conversations with folks in the sieving areas. There are water fountains at the sieving stations and a water wash as you leave the facility (for cleaning tools and shoes). They sound a horn if a diamond is found. Efforts redouble on the field after they hear the horn! :P
Sunday before we left we walked the River Trail. It is an about 1.1 mile trail (.6 mile is wide and paved for wheelchair access and .5 mile is unpaved but still very navigable). It was a beautiful walk (especially on the unpaved part) and had a nice view of the river along part of it. Here's the trail and then a pic of the river from the trail:
Cell phones worked fine in the campground and on the field (a couple of the pics are from my cell phone) but Dad's cell was roaming and did not get a Sprint signal while we were there. Just FYI!
We had a great time and Mom and Dad were very enamored of the Rockin' A! I'm working on planning another moho trip the next time they visit!
Susan
Ooops--edit to say that there must have been a dirt track or paved oval near the campground, because I could hear it as I walked around the grounds Saturday evening. Another fun thing to go do in the area!
Linear Mode
