[scrapandtell]

Has anyone ever gone to the Crater of Diamonds state park in Arkansas? That place really intrigues me but I'm wondering how enjoyable it would be for an 8 and 9 year old. I would imagine that they would love digging in the dirt but would wonder how long it would hold their attention if they didn't find any diamonds in the first half hour or so...

I live in Wisconsin and would be driving to Arkansas. Because there don't seem to be many other kid-friendly things to do in that part of the state, I'm wondering how fun of a family vacation it would be.

Does anyone else have any insights or perhaps knowledge of other Arkansas-local kid-friendly attractions if we were to double the diamond hunting with something else in the area?

[mcmama]

I have thought about going there, because i am something of a rockhound. About two diamonds are found each day, I think, most of them small but some pretty spectacular.

I seem to recall seeing that there are hotels and local kid friendly attractions there - it is mostly an outdoor experience. As for me, I likely will return to western NC for my rock hunting - did that as a kid, and never forgot it. In addition to rock hunting, in the Blue Ridge mountains you also have camping and when I was there some places had horseback riding too - real riding, not just pony rides.