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Flying in Oregon

DBP

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Joined
Dec 1, 2020
Messages
6
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Age
66
Location
Portland, Oregon
I'm finding it's getting more and more restrictive to fly in Oregon and the Portland area in general. Most state parks are now restricting flights and even along the coast you can't take off from any state park anymore. I did not know that the rules have changed. The Columbia River Gorge is highly restricted now too. Many of the places I'd like to photograph or take video are now off limits... I've seen the article about 5 places to shoot in the Portland area, but I'm pretty sure that's out of date as Pittock Mansion isn't allowing drones anymore.

So, for those here in Oregon, where do you go to fly and more importantly to shoot video and photos?

Thanks,
David
 
I just go out in the country. I live in Salem and there are plenty of places in the area ok for flying. I was recently over at the coast in the Newport area but it was way too windy to try flying

mostly though, I go to Eastern Oregon and the high desert, especially the high desert mountains. I had several great flights in the Steens Mountains; some flights around the Strawberry Mountains; and flights around Jordan Valley and the Owyhee River
 
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I just go out in the country. I live in Salem and there are plenty of places in the area ok for flying. I was recently over at the coast in the Newport area but it was way too windy to try flying

mostly though, I go to Eastern Oregon and the high desert, especially the high desert mountains. I had several great flights in the Steens Mountains; some flights around the Strawberry Mountains; and flights around Jordan Valley and the Owyhee River
Right on I flew last year at Leslie Gulch on the Owyhee. It was amazing!
 
Right on I flew last year at Leslie Gulch on the Owyhee. It was amazing!
yes...those reddish cliffs are beautiful. The Succor Creek area is interesting as well. especially if you're ambitious enough to hike upward from the campground. It can get very hot there though

if you take the long gravel road that traverses north of the Jordan Craters it will take you down to the historic Birch Creek Ranch right on the Owyhee river. The steep decent from on top down to the river is a little sphincter-tightening, but droning along that road was fun

About 20 miles east of Seneca is Logan Valley and it's beautiful there. Very similar to some alpine valleys in the Rockies. And the Strawberry Mountain Range makes for some great background in the drone footage

Next spring we're planning on making the trek into Troy and the Grand Ronde river. Another nervous descent of a 2000 feet.
 
yes...those reddish cliffs are beautiful. The Succor Creek area is interesting as well. especially if you're ambitious enough to hike upward from the campground. It can get very hot there though

if you take the long gravel road that traverses north of the Jordan Craters it will take you down to the historic Birch Creek Ranch right on the Owyhee river. The steep decent from on top down to the river is a little sphincter-tightening, but droning along that road was fun

About 20 miles east of Seneca is Logan Valley and it's beautiful there. Very similar to some alpine valleys in the Rockies. And the Strawberry Mountain Range makes for some great background in the drone footage

Next spring we're planning on making the trek into Troy and the Grand Ronde river. Another nervous descent of a 2000 feet.
That sounds awesome! It is a bit of a long drive for me though.....
 
That sounds awesome! It is a bit of a long drive for me though.....
yeah, I live in Salem. We have a small 5th wheel though and can camp. About 5 hours from Salem is the Chickahomny Reservoir campground and it's an easy stop that breaks up the drive. We spent a night there, then camped at Antelope Reservoir which is just a few miles west of Jordan Valley

Troy is a bit further than that but in the north corner of the state
 
I'm finding it's getting more and more restrictive to fly in Oregon and the Portland area in general. Most state parks are now restricting flights and even along the coast you can't take off from any state park anymore. I did not know that the rules have changed. The Columbia River Gorge is highly restricted now too. Many of the places I'd like to photograph or take video are now off limits... I've seen the article about 5 places to shoot in the Portland area, but I'm pretty sure that's out of date as Pittock Mansion isn't allowing drones anymore.

So, for those here in Oregon, where do you go to fly and more importantly to shoot video and photos?

Thanks,
David
Hi David, I live out around Yamhill and there's a small airport on the way to Newberg, lucky for me I'm not under the flight path. I never thought to look on the Columbia river where I fish, ( St. Helens area) to see if it's restricted before I bought a Air 2. It's not restricted so more than likely I'll take it over there and also to Hagg lake to practice my tracking shots.
 
I fly in Oregon all the time, especially the Columbia River. I am not sure what you mean by highly restricted. If you are referring to State Parks then yes, but there are plenty of places you can fly from that aren't in parks. Also, you can fly over a State Park as long as you don't take off and land from inside of it. Also, there are plenty of beaches on the Coast that have no restrictions. You just have to avoid the State Parks and such.
 
I fly in Oregon all the time, especially the Columbia River. I am not sure what you mean by highly restricted. If you are referring to State Parks then yes, but there are plenty of places you can fly from that aren't in parks. Also, you can fly over a State Park as long as you don't take off and land from inside of it. Also, there are plenty of beaches on the Coast that have no restrictions. You just have to avoid the State Parks and such.
yeah, I fly a lot in Eastern Oregon and the Willamette Valley. But there are 363 miles of Oregon coastline and I'd imagine about 340 of those miles are open for flying. It can be too windy to fly a lot of time though
 
Not all Oregon state parks disallow drones - if you check their web site they do NOT have a blanket no drone policy at present. Several parks do have notices about no drones so you need to check each one but Silver Falls is at the top of the list for no fly. There are a few parks along the northern coastline (Ecola Park and a few others) along with the coastline from the south jetty at Coos Bay down to Bandon but most of the rest of the coastline is OK to fly.

Do avoid flying over ANY of the offshore islands as they are part of the Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge and all airspace from ground level to 2000' is prohibited. There are over 1800 islands covered so you do need to avoid all of them. This is a special carveout from normal FAA airspace jurisdiction so the airspace itself over the islands is protected as opposed to the usual launch and control prohibitions.
 

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