If diamonds truly are a girl’s best friend…you need to head to Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas to find your new bestie.
A tourist visiting from France recently visited the state park and made a lucky discovery — a massive diamond. The best part? He gets to keep it.

Julien Navas, a visitor from Paris, discovered a 7.46-carat diamond at the Arkansas state park on January 11, 2024. The find is the eighth-largest diamond that has been registered at the park since Crater of Diamonds State Park was established in 1972.
Navas said he had panned for gold and gone fossil hunting in the past, and that made him wanted to visit the state park during his visit to the U.S. He was searching the designated 37.5-acre search area when he found the massive diamond.
“I got to the park around nine o’clock and started to dig,” said Navas. “That is back-breaking work so by the afternoon I was mainly looking on top of the ground for anything that stood out.”
After searching for several hours, Navas carried his finds to the park’s Diamond Discovery Center, where he learned that he had discovered a brown diamond weighing 7.46 carats. When he learned that he had found a diamond, Navas was stunned and said, “I am so happy! All I can think about is telling my fiancée what I found.”
Most natural areas follow the “leave no trace” policy…meaning you can’t take items out of the park, but Crater of the Diamonds State Park allows guests to keep what they find, so Navas gets to keep the diamond.
Navas named the diamond the Carine Diamond after his fiancée, and said he plans to get the diamond cut into two pieces so he can gift one part to his fiancée and the other to his daughter.
Crater of Diamonds State Park is one of the only diamond-producing spots in the world that allows the public to keep what they find. So far, 11 discovered diamonds have been registered at the park since the beginning of 2024. Typically, one or two diamonds are found each day.
More than 35,000 diamonds have been found by park visitors since the Crater of Diamonds became an Arkansas state park. Notable diamonds found at the Crater include the 40.23-carat Uncle Sam, the largest diamond ever unearthed in the U.S.; the 16.37-carat Amarillo Starlight; the 15.33-carat Star of Arkansas; and the 8.52-carat Esperanza.
According to Assistant Park Superintendent Waymon Cox, many of the park’s largest diamonds are found on the surface.
“We periodically plow the search area to loosen the diamond-bearing soil and promote natural erosion,” said Cox. “As rain falls on the field, it washes away the dirt and uncovers heavy rocks, minerals, and diamonds near the surface.”
A few days before Navas’s visit, the park had received over an inch of rain, making it a wet and muddy day.
Navas said of his visit to Crater of Diamonds State Park, “it is a magical place, where the dream of finding a diamond can come true! It was a real great adventure.”
Crater of Diamonds State Park is located in Murfreesboro, Arkansas and is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily (with the exception of some holidays). In addition to searching for diamonds, you can also explore hiking trails, go camping, or visit the seasonal Diamond Springs Water Park here. The state park is located about 9.5 hours away from Atlanta…but would make a great road trip destination.
Happy (diamond) hunting!
Follow us here: Facebook | X | Instagram | Pinterest | YouTube | MSN | TripAdvisor | Flipboard | NewsBreak
All articles belong to 365 Atlanta Family LLC, and all photos belong to us as well, unless otherwise noted. It’s all copyrighted. Please don’t repost anything elsewhere without asking me first. All rights reserved. This site uses cookies to enhance your experience.
We make no guarantees of any price listed on our site. We are not responsible for content on external web sites linked from ours, including linked resources, an external blog post, any partner site, hotel property sites, or affiliate sites. We only write about places we love in an attempt to help you in your adventures, but we can’t guarantee you will love them, too.
Posts may contain affiliate links at no cost to you. Several of our trips are also compensated by the respective tourism boards for the city or state we are visiting, restaurants, attractions or brands. This never impacts how we share the destination with you – opinions are always our own and we pride ourselves on that. We do not sell links or accept unsolicited guest posts under any circumstances. Don’t even ask.
United States Copyright, 365 Atlanta Family, LLC
View our Privacy Policy | Subscribe to our Newsletter | Contact Site Owner | View Terms & Conditions | About Us