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Updated place to fly in SF Bay Area/East Bay/South Bay

reductoe

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Hello everyone. I'm new to this forum and to the drone scene. I've been flying my MA for about a month now. But that's been next to the park that I live by in Fremont, CA. I would like to go somewhere else to fly my MA. After hours of research (looking at Airmap, googling for safe areas), I still don't have any clues where I can safely fly. If you live in my area, can you give some tips on good places? Can I fly along the Alameda Creek Trail, as it doesn't appear in any NFZ. Can I fly at Lake Elizabeth or to the east of it? I know people fly at Bayland Parks, but I'm confused because Bayland is in the NFZ. Thank you. And sorry if this question has been asked already, I'm looking for updated information.
 
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I used to live in the Bay Area, actually fairly close to Fremont, near the Milpitas/San Jose border. I just took a quick look at AirMap and there seems to be a lot of places to fly. You could go to Calaveras reservoir, Mission park, Niles Canyon. Basically, you could go almost anywhere east of you and looks like you would be OK. If you’re adventurous take Alum Rock to Mount Hamilton road and go all the way to the top and past Lick Observatory to the backside of the hill. It’s called Owens Valley and are a ton of cool places to get good footage.

Good luck and welcome to the forum.

Ken
 
I also recently acquired a Mavic Air and I’ve been flying it at Bayland Park. The no fly zone applies to the adjacent wetlands, but the park itself is allowed. Ive talked with the park official there so it’s legal. I’ve just purchased a season pass there last week for the parking and their large field is now open.

I also went to mission peak recently and I saw a no drone zone around the peak. Haven’t read clearly about the rest of the park though
 
Thanks guys for the tips. I appreciate it. I also saw some video footage of Shoreline Park in Mountain View. If it works out, that would be cool, cause I work near that area.
 
How about over some neighborhood parks throughout the South Bay?

Most cities have them, with a softball diamond and just big expanses of grass, surrounded by single-family homes usually.
 
Okay, not exactly in the same area you are discussing, but one place I love to fly is the area along the coast just north of Bodega Bay, it is incredibly scenic, with many rock formations in the ocean including an arch.

A fun overnight road trip involves driving north to Fort Bragg, stopping at all the interesting spots along the way, staying the night in Fort Bragg, and then filming there for the day before heading home.

Glass Beach is a dream for UAV hobbyists. I had no difficulty calling the tower at the Airport, and while I typically avoid flying that close to airports, it is well worth the extra steps you need to go through to stay legal.
 
I live in Walnut Creek and have been searching for a place to fly legally and so far I have not found a single one.
I have found this link from 2015 that drone are illegal in the district’s parks and open spaces.
Have also checked all state parks are also illegal.

I believe there is no place you can actually fly legally in the east bay... :-(
Hopping I am wrong with my research...
 
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Hey guys, to try to help everyone to fly legally I've started creating a custom google maps with the objective of showing areas that we are allowed to fly legally.

USA Fly/No Fly Zones

As of now, there is no data there since I don't know any place where we can fly legally (I'm new to the hobby)

Please ping me with places you know flying a drone is allowed and I will add to the map.

Hope this can help the community.
 
Hello everyone. I'm new to this forum and to the drone scene. I've been flying my MA for about a month now. But that's been next to the park that I live by in Fremont, CA. I would like to go somewhere else to fly my MA. After hours of research (looking at Airmap, googling for safe areas), I still don't have any clues where I can safely fly. If you live in my area, can you give some tips on good places? Can I fly along the Alameda Creek Trail, as it doesn't appear in any NFZ. Can I fly at Lake Elizabeth or to the east of it? I know people fly at Bayland Parks, but I'm confused because Bayland is in the NFZ. Thank you. And sorry if this question has been asked already, I'm looking for updated information.

if headed to SF, you can fly along the embarcadero over the water. you can fly by coit tower and lombard but before 8am. if you fly longer or earlier, you might wake up the residents. and that's where the phantoms have the advantage. they're quieter.
 
Before 8 am?

Or 8 pm?

Or after 8 am?

I'm surprise there aren't restrictions with all the helicopters and other aircraft over the bay.
 
I have another question. I know that it’s not legal to fly in East Bay regional parks, but is it legal to fly over the park if the point of origin is outside of the park? The way I’m thinking about it is that the airspace is FAA rules based, so as long as we comply to this rules, it’s ok.

Anyone?
 
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Hey guys, First post for me here. Ive been flying my Mavic Pro for over a year now. Apparently Dogwalker is right saying east bay regional parks are off limits. Also just spoke with someone who said all fremont parks are no drone zones. Not sure how much they enforce it because ive been to coyote hills a few times and no trouble. Airmaps says most of fremont is fine but always check with local authority or someone in charge. FLY AT YOUR OWN RISK! Also know that some people dont understand the drone laws and if someone complains just leave instead of arguing. Even with my Part 107 license ive had people say i shouldnt fly in certain places. Unfortunately they dont know how hard it can be to crash one of these things haha
 
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@M1CMAN , I actually haven't see any rules banning flights in parks in Fremont. I just came back from my local neighborhood park and didn't see any signs there banning drones. Where did you hear that? Googling brings up no hits. A buddy of mine flies FPVs and DJI drones at his park in Union City and has no issues either.
 
Maybe a difference between city parks and county parks.
 
@M1CMAN , I actually haven't see any rules banning flights in parks in Fremont. I just came back from my local neighborhood park and didn't see any signs there banning drones. Where did you hear that? Googling brings up no hits. A buddy of mine flies FPVs and DJI drones at his park in Union City and has no issues either.

I called the lake Elizabeth office and they said no drones. Then went on to verbally tell me that all Fremont parks are off limits. I would like to see this in an official bylaw tho
 
So without signs, people will fly.

Most people aren't going to look up and contact parks depts.
 
I go camping alot and love Lake Hogan (in Valley Springs)...its about 2 hours out of bay area (1 hour from my house on Tracy)... I see a few drones there and I've droned it alot.


I frequently travel more than an hour or two to fly my drone. There are some great places out there.
 
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Well that stings a little. My park has no signs out there and I did spend a little time with the Fremont municipal but found no mention of drones anywhere.

I might just return my Mavic 2 Zoom. I don't fly it often enough to justify the investment..... . I'm in Oregon right now and no drones allowed anywhere in Oregon State Parks. It's a fun hobby but the restrictive laws are hobbling it.
 
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