Flying in the 4 corners
- Thread starter rockos
- Start date
Rocking, I hope to finally get on the road this coming Tuesday and I am heading to my first stop at Meteor Crater and the Painted Desert National Park.
I am hoping I will be allowed to launch my P4Pro+ and fly in, around and into the crater. The first time I visited that incredible site way back in 1974.
I was going to go by there last year after leaving The Painted Desert National Park, but the wind was blowing at a steady 70 MPH and wind gust up to 90 MPH. I saw a number of turned over tractor trailer rigs that day.
My next stop was Monument Valley and the surrounding area. I camped outside of Monument Valley for five days just a few miles away. I would have loved to fly my Phantom in that beautiful Park, but the native Indians had the largest NO DRONE ZONE sign I spotted during my five month trip last year.
I am hoping I will be allowed to launch my P4Pro+ and fly in, around and into the crater. The first time I visited that incredible site way back in 1974.
I was going to go by there last year after leaving The Painted Desert National Park, but the wind was blowing at a steady 70 MPH and wind gust up to 90 MPH. I saw a number of turned over tractor trailer rigs that day.
My next stop was Monument Valley and the surrounding area. I camped outside of Monument Valley for five days just a few miles away. I would have loved to fly my Phantom in that beautiful Park, but the native Indians had the largest NO DRONE ZONE sign I spotted during my five month trip last year.
Hmm, that's too bad. I visited Monument Valley 5yrs ago and was looking forward flying those monuments in the next year or so. I notice on the map there are a few buttes north of the Monument Valley borders. I guess that's where I'll have to fly, Stagecoach monument, Big Indian, Setting Hen, Brighams Tomb, etc.
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Finally uploaded pictures of Shiprock. Was a little windy a couple weekends ago. Need to start closer to try and fly over and around.
Those photos are very nice. I like the shadows, great time of day for the shot.
It appears you flew from the Indian service road. How many miles away did you have to fly for the closest photo of shiprock mountain?. It looks like about 4 miles on the map.
It appears you flew from the Indian service road. How many miles away did you have to fly for the closest photo of shiprock mountain?. It looks like about 4 miles on the map.
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That you. The photos were taken from two different starting locations. the long distance you can see my vehicle down the road. I was approx 1.5 miles away. The close up photo of Shiprock was taken approx 2500 FT from the center. I started the close up 1 mile Southeast of Shiprock. Here is a link to a video.
Sign me up for that adventure. I can be there in 8 hours and 42 minutes. Anybody want to share gas?
I'm actually going to add this spot to my Drone tour this fall. I plan to travel the Utah loop as a drone adventure. I made this loop 5yrs ago with my son, we had a great time. But now that I have a couple drones, this trip would have a different agenda, travelling a similar route.
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That's a pretty nice flight spot. Where's the video?Flew out at Cox Canyon Arch this morning. Great weather.
I was forewarned and strongly advised NOT to fly over Native American Territory. They do not rule by way of the Constitution and Bill of rights. This means that quad copters can and have been confiscated. The same goes for firearms an booze.
Neither quadcoptors nor firearms will do well if immersed in a bucket of booze.
Actually, the US Constitution specifically applies on tribal lands (Tenth Amendment). Best way to think about it is that their a separate state and enjoy many of the same provisions.
I’ve visited Monument Valley recently and knew that drones were prohibited around The Mittens and The View hotel. I can understand that with those areas being the most visited, so I stayed away from that general area. I flew northwest of there and notified the Monument Valley airport of my intent to fly because I was just on the edge of the 5-mile radius.
I also recommend obtaining a backcountry permit. You will also have to get a commercial photography permit if you are doing any commercial work. More info at: http://navajonationparks.org/permits-services/
One of the most spectacular places I’ve flown so far:
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I'm hitting southern Utah next month, similar route. Did you find any drone friendly locations that are worthwhile to fly at that you could recommend.
You should talk with @KevMo Photog. He has a friend in the area and found a cool place on the edge of Zion that allows you to launch outside the national park and fly in to capture some nice terrain. I think this is the place. You can look at the map and see where the boundaries are and where you can launch. I've recently added this area to my list, next time I visit St. George.
If you're over in the Monument Valley area, definitely fly that area, but you need to fly from the road, not within the park. I don't think the Navajo want you flying their land, however I do know someone that did fly inside the reservation with no problem. He just didn't ask for permission and wasn't obvious about flying. In other words, don't stand out in the open advertising you're flying! Fly from within the car while someone else is driving slow along the dirt road. Launch when nobody is looking, be discrete. There is so much dirt road to travel, nobody is going to notice when you get way back there a few miles away from the gift shop.
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Thanks John! Yes this place was super to camp and fly at just outside of Zion Park. I looked at your map that you posted. And I could not tell if that was the exact spot we were at or not. LOL. It was def off of Kolob Terrace Rd. We also camped just to the North of Dead Horse State Park in a really cool spot on the edge of a deep canyon that was super fun to fly. Here are the vids.
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