Rules for Flying NEAR a national park. USA

[Reelman67]

First and foremost, I want to state that I will abide by the rules and regulations set forth by FAA and the NPS but I find their position regarding drones in national parks, national monuments, national recreation areas, wildlife refuges and marine sanctuaries to be utterly ridiculous and paranoid. The rules reflect the views of a select group of persons, those with anti-drone viewpoint, not all Americans. So much hysteria supported by law. Sick of all of it but I will obey.

 

[pmshop]

I hate to say it is not paranoia.
Just give thanks to the dude that crashed into the pools at Yellowstone in '13 for the knee jerk reaction.

 

[FASTFJR]

In both the Vegas area and Zion National Park I've taken off and landed just outside of the park boundaries and never had an issue. Keep in mind I try to do this first thing in the morning to draw the least amount of attraction I can. In Zion I took off from the back yard of the B&B my wife and I were staying at. Little did I know a park ranger and his wife were staying in the same place. They were from the East coast, we talked for a while and he thought my drone was really cool

I flew from here......https://www.google.com/maps/@37.1915288,-112.9923968,19.86z

This was two years ago, not sure if anything has changed since then

 

[pmshop]

I got a route from Fredonia down to the west side of the Grand Canyon I'd love to try.
But seriously need a guide for that trip.
All in the middle of nowhere yet there are establishments along the route I chose.
Right up to the edge of the canyon cliff

 

[Endeavor]

I believe one can fly over NPS areas but not land or take off however best practice is to just fly outside these areas and if you need park footage just google or use NOVA or Discovery channel footage.

 

[DanMan32]

Or just ask for special permission. I believe the NPS regulation includes exception for explicit permission.

 

[pmshop]

I believe one can fly over NPS areas but not land or take off however best practice is to just fly outside these areas and if you need park footage just google or use NOVA or Discovery channel footage.

Not any fun if it is not yours

 

[Macinfo]

First and foremost, I want to state that I will abide by the rules and regulations set forth by FAA and the NPS but I find their position regarding drones in national parks, national monuments, national recreation areas, wildlife refuges and marine sanctuaries to be utterly ridiculous and paranoid. The rules reflect the views of a select group of persons, those with anti-drone viewpoint, not all Americans. So much hysteria supported by law. Sick of all of it but I will obey.

I agree you want to abide by the rules, but some of the rules don't seem to make much sense, and of course it only takes a couple moron pilots to screw it up for everyone.

Many national parks are expansive, the chances of causing an issue could be minimal if you fly well away from most people visiting the park... It would be nice if you could visit the ranger station and get permission to fly, show where your going to fly and get approval.

Yes, more and more people maybe getting drones, but realistically, how many people are going to try and fly in the same place on the same day in a park that covers many many square miles.

Course one of the concerns might be if you crash, even if you don't come close to anyone, it could probably be difficult or impossible to recover your crashed drone. Which would limit one to simple flights, going up a few hundred feet and panning the area... Which for some, might be enough,

 

[Lopez0015]

If you take off outside of a national park and fly over it .. you playing with fire [emoji91]

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Yes, more and more people maybe getting drones, but realistically, how many people are going to try and fly in the same place on the same day in a park that covers many many square miles.

And in the same 15min to 30min flight time maximum of most consumer drones.