Looks like I'll never visit Tennessee for vacation. I'll take my vacation money where I can get more value. 
Drones in State Parks (illegal? yes or no)
- Thread starter mikeisi
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Georgia State parks are also off limits. I recently talked to park ranger at our local state park, he advised that you have to contact the "regional director" for specific permission at each park and tell them how, why etc that you are going to fly. They "sometimes" give permission for a specific time of day but have rules like you cannot fly above 100 feet etc. Not enough return for my time investment begging to fly and video a park that my taxes pay for so I wont bother.
Here in Colorado, use of R/C vehicles to include boats, planes, cars, helicopters are only allowed in designated areas. This applies for State Parks and Open Spaces under the jurisdiction of the State Parks. I was curious and looked it up as this one State Park is only a few miles from my house and would have been fun to fly/photograph
This isn't a new rule here. Many years ago an LHS wanted to launch an R/C Boat at the Res. Ranger said no as they aren't allowed in the Res. There is a model airport on at this State Park where you can fly. And I've heard of people (on here) flying at the State Park with approval (verbal) from a Park Ranger.
This isn't a new rule here. Many years ago an LHS wanted to launch an R/C Boat at the Res. Ranger said no as they aren't allowed in the Res. There is a model airport on at this State Park where you can fly. And I've heard of people (on here) flying at the State Park with approval (verbal) from a Park Ranger.
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Now that's interesting.
I noticed tons of videos on YouTube from people flying in Arches National Park or Fisher Towers at Moab or Bryce Canyon or even in The Wave which is a part of Paria Canyon National Park. They were mostly made with P3P. I can't imagine how someone could make a video of a Delicate Arch or Turret Arch or North or South Window at the Arches National Park without taking off from the park grounds.
Does anybody have any experience with these? Do you think I should ask the authors on YouTube?
I noticed tons of videos on YouTube from people flying in Arches National Park or Fisher Towers at Moab or Bryce Canyon or even in The Wave which is a part of Paria Canyon National Park. They were mostly made with P3P. I can't imagine how someone could make a video of a Delicate Arch or Turret Arch or North or South Window at the Arches National Park without taking off from the park grounds.
Does anybody have any experience with these? Do you think I should ask the authors on YouTube?
I drove 80mph in the 70mph zone... does not mean driving 80 is legal (though 80 is legal in a few areas of Utah... we have places to get to and nothing in between).
Don't think that National Parks are not above giving out citations:
Illegal flights persist despite national park drone ban
I don't like regulations against flying drones as I feel 99% of them are over-baring. However, I don't disagree with the ban in National Parks. These are high volume tourist areas and people go there to be with nature (at least here in Utah). People would not be able to enjoy these park with 50 drones buzzing around. I get that. However, National Parks can contain hundreds of square miles... with many areas where you won't see a sole. I think it was last year that I won the lottery to the Coyote Buttes North (just north of the Wave). There was only one truck at the trailhead and I asked if he would not mind if I flew my drone. He had no problem with this and was interested in how it worked.
I suspect some of the people who made those videos did not even know it was not permitted. The ones I watched did not show anyone else in the area. However, the rangers _will_ give out citations if they see someone flying a drone. Maybe not all of the time but I've not too many National park rangers with a large sense of humor.
I just flew mine this weekend at a large Florida state park and no one said a word to me. I got in 10 flights over the weekend.
No offense, but just because no one said anything doesn't mean its legal or allowed. Found this regarding Florida State Parks and rules.
Update, Florida State Parks Found A Way To Ban On Model Airplane Operations.
Update, Florida State Parks Found A Way To Ban On Model Airplane Operations.
Such a shame to let all of that beautiful nature go unseen. To view it from a drone perspective would be amazing.I film a ton in Tennessee State Parks (mostly of waterfalls and overlooks). I had someone leave me a comment on one of my videos of Burgess Falls telling me they're illegal in state parks. Here is a short conversation. What do yall think? (If you want to see my vids, check out youtube.com/mikeisi)
"Allen Fenoseff 3 days ago
Just a reminder that the use of drones on state parks is illegal
mikeisi 3 days ago
+Allen Fenoseff I don't believe it currently is. I've not (as of yet) seen anything officially documenting it is illegal in Tennessee 'state' parks. There is a national ban on them within National Parks however.
Allen Fenoseff 3 days ago
+mikeisi Drones fall under the same policy as aircraft and are prohibited on all Tennessee State Parks according to the Director of State Parks in Tennessee. The policy has filtered down to staff and we inform the public when we see drones. I manage Dunbar Cave State Natural Area and Port Royal State Historic Area in Clarksville Tn. Just giving you a heads up. We , park rangers, would much rather inform people of the rules so they can have a better time on the parks instead of having to haul equipment in and then haul it out and waste your time. I hope this was helpful and saves you time and money. Thanks for visiting our parks. P.S. loved the footage, awesome."
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NATIONAL parks are PROHIBITED. However, I have a friend who’s a park ranger at Narrows of the Harpeth STATE park but I wanted to ask him about flying in Montgomery Bell State Park in Dickson, TN. He did say that it’s illegal but that Senior Park Ranger Pat Wright might possibly grant me permission to fly if I asked him. I haven’t asked him yet but I plan to. So apparently from reading some of the other threads, as long as you are granted permission from a Park Ranger, you’re good to go….just ask first. My friend from Narrows of the Harpeth was glad to know that I have a P3P. There’s several canoeing rental places on the Harpeth River. He said sometimes he gets calls of canoes/kayak that turn over resulting in missing person cases…especially if the water is up. In cases like this, a drone could be very beneficial in locating a missing person. He wanted to know if he could call me in cases like this if I was available and obviously I said absolutely. I think it would be cool to be involved in a drone search and rescue team.
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Not really. We have lots of state parks in Montana where I could take of and easily cover the whole park with one flight. There's one near me that is a State Park and it's just a swimming hole where the state charges us peasants to go swimming. It used to be the local garbage dump when I was a kid.
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I film a ton in Tennessee State Parks (mostly of waterfalls and overlooks). I had someone leave me a comment on one of my videos of Burgess Falls telling me they're illegal in state parks. Here is a short conversation. What do yall think? (If you want to see my vids, check out youtube.com/mikeisi)
"Allen Fenoseff 3 days ago
Just a reminder that the use of drones on state parks is illegal
mikeisi 3 days ago
+Allen Fenoseff I don't believe it currently is. I've not (as of yet) seen anything officially documenting it is illegal in Tennessee 'state' parks. There is a national ban on them within National Parks however.
Allen Fenoseff 3 days ago
+mikeisi Drones fall under the same policy as aircraft and are prohibited on all Tennessee State Parks according to the Director of State Parks in Tennessee. The policy has filtered down to staff and we inform the public when we see drones. I manage Dunbar Cave State Natural Area and Port Royal State Historic Area in Clarksville Tn. Just giving you a heads up. We , park rangers, would much rather inform people of the rules so they can have a better time on the parks instead of having to haul equipment in and then haul it out and waste your time. I hope this was helpful and saves you time and money. Thanks for visiting our parks. P.S. loved the footage, awesome."
So I just contacted the the main Nashville office for TN state Parks and they said there is no law prohibiting these craft anymore. But it is up to the park manager whether to allow them or not. We have a large scouting event coming up at one of the local TN state parks. I called the park to speak to the manager, and was told by the admin the directive is they are not allowed at the state park we are having our event at. No exceptions period! I asked if maybe a park ranger could verify (heck stand beside me) that I was only shooting the camp, and the admin said "no exceptions" per the park manager. So I doubt I will be able to do anything before the event. But I want to try and get the ear of this manager an find out how things like this event can be photographed.
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I would go to talk to the head park ranger if I were you and personally ask him. If it'll make him feel better, put prop guards on and ask him to come supervise the shoot. If the park isn't too large, you might be able take off from outside park property and do the shoot but that might be risky and get you in trouble too if you're caught. Good luck!
I flew in an Ohio State Park just last weekend. Before I went I visited the ODNR web site to check the rules and regulations. It is very specific about prohibiting manned aerial vehicles, ie. planes, balloons, gliders, etc. from taking off or landing within a park, but says nothing about model aircraft at all. When I got to the park I carefully read the posted park rules - no mention of model aircraft. So, I flew over the lake from a remote area within the park. I'm certain there were at least a few people who saw me, but I was careful not to fly low or intrude on anyone's privacy. I don't know if any Park Rangers might have seen me, but I was prepared to state my case.
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i heard better to ask forgiveness than permission. if you ask permission, most people are too scared to say ok cause they don't know any better and don't wanna take a chance getting in trouble. just say you didn't know and i'm sure you'l lbe fine. plus i always do a big circle b4 i land so nobody knows where its coming from. haha!
Yeah, that's kinda what I was thinking. This way, I can say I'm sorry, but after I've had some fun flying.
dirkclod
Premium Pilot
Have heard that also but ignorance of the law don't count in a lot of places .
As long as respect is being paid for others in the area who are also trying to enjoy the park, then no, do not ban them.
California State Parks seem to allow them depending on the head of the state park. Surprised to see Gov. Brown actually allowed them, but it is a techy-driven state too.
More of it here: https://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/937/files/csp_uas.pdf
More interesting is that DJI is mentioned in a lobbying effort to allow them along with GoPro who put up $125,000 in their lobbying effort. It was in the LA Times: Why California may not see statewide rules on the use of drones anytime soon
Seems cities are in the fight too, but mostly against them.
More of it here: https://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/937/files/csp_uas.pdf
More interesting is that DJI is mentioned in a lobbying effort to allow them along with GoPro who put up $125,000 in their lobbying effort. It was in the LA Times: Why California may not see statewide rules on the use of drones anytime soon
Seems cities are in the fight too, but mostly against them.
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