Has anybody ever flown in a national park?

[Marko9219]

The average drone battery doesn't last that long. Your telling me the potential of 20 minutes having to hear a drone in the distance is going to ruin your vacation?

How many batteries do YOU own? I own 4. The average daily visitor load in Yellowstone in July is about 30,000..if only 1 out of 100 visitors had drones, that might be 300 drones in the park each and every day with each drone in the air for what maybe an hour each day? All of these 300 drones will be concentrated near the same pullouts, on the same roads as everyone else in the park that day. What a potential noisy mess.

 

[black_magic100]

How many batteries do YOU own? I own 4. The average daily visitor load in Yellowstone in July is about 30,000..if only 1 out of 100 visitors had drones, that might be 300 drones in the park each and every day with each drone in the air for what maybe an hour each day? All of these 300 drones will be concentrated near the same pullouts, on the same roads as everyone else in the park that day. What a potential noisy mess.

Good point. I was referring to the Great Smoky Mountains specifically even though I never mentioned it. I am sure Yellowstone is significantly more crowded. Somebody earlier mentioned having different restrictions with each park rather than just treating them all the same.

 

[Mr. Salty]

Good point. I was referring to the Great Smoky Mountains specifically even though I never mentioned it. I am sure Yellowstone is significantly more crowded.

This surprised me. From the Great Smoky Mountains page at the National Park Service website:

More than 11.3 million recreational visits in 2016. (This figure does not include the approximately 11 million travelers on the Gatlingburg-Pigeon Forge Spur.) Highest visitation of any of the 59 national parks. The second most heavily visited national park is Grand Canyon with 4.6 million visits, third is Yosemite with 3.8 million, fourth is Yellowstone with 3.2 million.

 

[black_magic100]

This surprised me. From the Great Smoky Mountains page at the National Park Service website:

WOW! lol. Except that kind of just proves my point. I've gone to the great smoky mountains once a year for the past 5 years or so and the last summer I was their during memorial weekend, which is by far the most crowded weekend and even then I did not see a lot of people. Even when I was on the Rainbow Falls trail there weren't a whole lot of people. Luckily I have a DSLR now, but at this rate it won't be long before drones are completely banned in the US. If the bureaucrats in DC can't even understand the facebook like button I don't see a very good future for all UAV pilots...

 

[FL1H1]

Yes I know it is illegal and no I have not done it before, but I'd be lying if I wasn't extremely tempted. My motto with flying drones has always been to be safe and responsible, which generally means NEVER flying over people, never going LOS, landing when helis are in the area, and notifying respective ATC's if necessary among a few other things. It seems so unnecessary to completely ban drones from national parks because they "disturb the peace". To a point I can understand that as drones can be fairly irritating to some people, but if nobody is around I really don't see the harm. What is your guys opinion on this?

Im from the UK but we have similar issues with the National Trust, who look after a lot of our country estates, Blenheim Palace, some parts of the lake district - a truly stunning part of our country. Way our law is, you can't operate and fly a drone on their land, take off or land in it but we can fly over it. Some sites, can be done and maintain VLOS, some are too big and can't. Monument Valley be great. Maybe one day they'll relent. Remember once cinemas, theatres, many amusement Park rides banned videos but today with phones and go pros they've just had to relent.

 

[Geo]

I flew in Rocky Mountain Park once back in 2014. It was with a Phantom and the first thing I noticed was how loud it was in the park. Parks are really quite places. People came up to me and asked if I was with the weather service. Said, yes. Made a great video. Didn’t do it again because I felt bad about disturbing everyone’s serenity in the park. Launched it again when I got outside of the park and still got a great video. I worry about launching in parks because if caught they take away your bird. Then they hit you with about a $1500 fine.
So if all of this is not a problem, parks are huge. Go far down the beaten path away from all crowds and fly there.

 

[ScubaBob]

I have been cross-country skiing in pristine areas of Yellowstone only to have the beauty and serenity of the day ruined by a train of snowmobilers zipping through the area and chasing the bison. I agree, drones, are less noisy than snowmobiles but I don't like either in the national parks. The reason snowmobiles are allowed is that they are a larger group of customers to the park than are drone owners, are more vocal and got their permission to use the parks decades ago. I wish the NPS would keep them out the same way as the citizens of Lake Tahoe banned jet skis on Lake Tahoe. There should be some places in the US where you can enjoy nature without man-made buzzing. I love my drone but I also love Mother Nature. I vote to keep the drones out of the parks.

 

[Skyspy]

Yes I know it is illegal and no I have not done it before, but I'd be lying if I wasn't extremely tempted. My motto with flying drones has always been to be safe and responsible, which generally means NEVER flying over people, never going LOS, landing when helis are in the area, and notifying respective ATC's if necessary among a few other things. It seems so unnecessary to completely ban drones from national parks because they "disturb the peace". To a point I can understand that as drones can be fairly irritating to some people, but if nobody is around I really don't see the harm. What is your guys opinion on this?

 

[Skyspy]

Yes I know it is illegal and no I have not done it before, but I'd be lying if I wasn't extremely tempted. My motto with flying drones has always been to be safe and responsible, which generally means NEVER flying over people, never going LOS, landing when helis are in the area, and notifying respective ATC's if necessary among a few other things. It seems so unnecessary to completely ban drones from national parks because they "disturb the peace". To a point I can understand that as drones can be fairly irritating to some people, but if nobody is around I really don't see the harm. What is your guys opinion on this?

 

[Skyspy]

Yes I fly in national parks all the time, why what's the problem ????

 

[Geo]

Something else to consider, if your drone gets lost in a park, chances are very good it is at the top of a very tall tree. So now what are you going to do? There are no ladders nearby even if you find it.

 

[Mangodrone]

I was in big bend np last week doing a bike packing trip. I witnessed 4 different people flying drones out in the middle of black gap road, basically the middle of nowhere. I think the concern with drones in np’s is having 400 irresponsible pilots on the south rim of the Grand Canyon all buzzing drones off the edge. I get the drone flying in busy national parks but there has to be a smarter way to implement the np drone rule. Seeems s bit ridiculous. But I understand their point a little. Not everyone can be a model drone pilot like myself:~}

 

[Bartmoore]

, post: 455759, member: 55875"]The reason they ban drones is not because there are responsible pilots that fly well and within the law. But like always in life, there are few that will trespass the line and will disturb the peace of animals and visitors. This is why the ban exist. People who violated all kinds of things it's why laws and more restrictions will be create it to even make less enjoyable flying.[/QUOTE]

Exactly! And for this reason all of us responsible drone pilots should call out, maybe even report, people who post videos on social media showing that they have violated flight rules, like in a national park
A guy once posted a video taken over Hermann Park in Houston. the problem was that you could clearly see nearby hospital heliports in the background.

 

[rob2000gt]

I talked to a park ranger at my local np. He said I can’t take off or land in the park. But he said I can lift off in the gulf and fly into the park as long as I don’t disturb wild life. I was able to get beautiful footage just standing in knee high water 15 feet off shore.

 

[Imtnbike]

There is no good reason for the NP ban, and it was supposed to be temporary. The reasoning against disturbing people and wildlife is nonsense based on the fact that Harley Davidsons and snowmobiles haven’t even been considered for a ban. There is a ban because they haven’t taken the time and effort to integrate them where, and under circumstances they would cause no harm.

That said, there IS a ban against launch and recovery, and you take your own chances of fines and confiscation, if you choose to violate that.

Flying over portions of the park are still perfectly legal as long as you are outside the boundaries. I would strongly advise that you use care and common sense if you choose to take that route.

You have to take into consideration that HDs and snowmobiles are restricted to roads and trails (under normal conditions) whereas drones would have access to virtually every inch of a NP. With widespread access comes potential widespread noise disturbance. As much as I would enjoy and love to operate a drone in many of the NPs I am more of a nature lover who goes to such places to enjoy the solitude and quiet of some of the Country's most scenic lands. Even as an enthusiastic drone operator I would be annoyed by a drone in any backwoods I had worked hard to access and leave behind the “buzz” of society.

 

[rob2000gt]

If they ban drones they should ban loud exhaust and loud music. That affects people and wildlife way more than a small drone flying 200 feet in the air.

 

[Sman88]

Even if there are no humans around aren't you going to disturb the peace of the animals?

So how come you can fly in a National Forest? Your argument is moot.

 

[Endeavor]

So Harleys, cruising right through the middle of The Great Smokey's, or snowmobiles cruising through Yellowstone, disturb animals less than a 1.5 lb drone?

OK now here is the deal, as a life long motorcyclist (not biker) I have to agree the harleys are loud and cause way more disturbance than any drone would especially one flown at a reasonable 100' or more height above creatures. But here is the deal harleys are symbols of "America" so they are above the law and even though mufflers are required on motorhomes and cars moving through the parks harleys are excluded. It's just the way it is. Drones are new so therefore the public has to become numb to them being around before the can choose to ignore the buzzing overhead. It will take time. Best practice is to not ruffle any feathers or put harley stickers on your drones.

 

[DonnyMac]

I love to fly my drone in nature but i have to say I do find them disruptive, as well.
Someone mentioned how much more noticeable the noise is in a park encironment. I have to say i agree. Unless, you’re shooting a loud feature like a waterfall, you’re probably going to be noticed by all kinds of animals, including ones wearing Smokey the bear, hats.
Parks have popular areas where humans tend congregate in numbers. I can understand wanting to limit air traffic. Ground traffic can be bad as it is.
I realize not all parks are the same. You can go backpacking and not see another person for hours or even days but I also appreciate the idea of being less impactful. I would hate the idea of coming across a drone that was lost lying in a stream or stuck in a tree.

 

[FMR]

So Harleys, cruising right through the middle of The Great Smokey's, or snowmobiles cruising through Yellowstone, disturb animals less than a 1.5 lb drone?

Yeah ....really **
Guess there's the reason bans are in place .
Some peoples perspective on what's ok and what's not .