Usually people go to state parks in search of a trail, vista, or barbecue. Arkansas' Crater of Diamonds State Park has a slightly glitzier reputation, and the latest lucky visitor is a woman who says she asked God last Thursday, "Are you going to bless me and let me find a diamond today?" The answer, apparently, was a resounding yes: Not long after, Susie Clark spotted a teardrop-shaped 3.69-carat gem that she's dubbed the Hallelujah Diamond, per a park release. "The gem is frosted white with a pearlescent, metallic shine," says Park Interpreter Waymon Cox, who adds that the pinto bean-sized diamond is the biggest gem of the 122 found so far this year at the park.
But it pales slightly in comparison to a 6.19-carat whopper found a year ago, and it's less than a tenth the size of the biggest ever found there: a 40.23-carat gem named the Uncle Sam (that one was uncovered during a 1924 mining project; the site was converted into a state park in 1972). Cox adds Clark also likely had a little help from recent rain, which washes dirt away, leaving diamonds to sparkle in the sun. The park's searchable 37.5-acre field is also plowed by staff to assist diamond hunters; the field is the only such site open to the public in the world, and those who find a diamond are free to do what they wish with it. Clark says she's keeping hers, but a year ago, a teen sold a 3.85-carat diamond she found at Crater of Diamonds for $20,000. (All those Crater of Diamonds gems are puny compared to this one.)
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