Can You Fly a Drone in a National Park? NPS Rules Explained

The National Park Service issued Policy Memorandum 14-05 in June 2014, prohibiting the launching, landing, and operation of unmanned aircraft on all NPS-administered lands and waters. The authority for the ban comes from 36 CFR 1.5, which allows park superintendents to issue closures for the protection of park resources and visitor experiences. The 2014 memo established a system-wide default of closed, requiring individual parks to apply for reopening rather than the reverse.

What the ban specifically prohibits

The ban covers three distinct actions: launching a drone from NPS land, landing a drone on NPS land, and operating a drone on NPS-administered lands or waters. Critically, this means you cannot launch from a parking lot inside a park, fly to a viewpoint, and land at the trailhead. All three actions occur on NPS land and are prohibited. Transporting a drone through a park in your car is not prohibited, though some parks with security checkpoints (like the Statue of Liberty ferry) will confiscate drones found in your bags.

Which parks and sites does it cover

The ban applies to all 63 national parks and all 400-plus NPS-administered sites, including national monuments, national recreation areas, national seashores, national historic sites, and the National Mall in Washington D.C. There is no park in the NPS system where recreational drone flying is permitted without a specific written authorization from the park superintendent.

Why the ban exists

NPS documentation cites four primary concerns: wildlife disturbance (drones have triggered bear charges and elk stampedes in documented incidents), noise interference with visitor experiences, safety risks to park visitors and wildlife, and airspace management conflicts. Real incidents that influenced the policy include a drone crashing into Yellowstone's Grand Prismatic Spring, a drone attempt to land on Mount Rushmore, a drone lost over the Grand Canyon rim, and repeated unauthorized flights over the National Mall in Washington D.C. Each of these created real management problems that recreational drone access had not previously presented.

The most common point of confusion for drone pilots is the difference between National Parks and National Forests. They sound similar, but they are administered by different federal agencies under different rules. For drone pilots, the rules are essentially opposite.

Flying in National Forests

National Forests cover roughly 193 million acres and are managed under a multiple-use mandate that includes recreation, timber, and grazing. Drone flying is generally permitted in National Forests as long as you comply with FAA rules (stay under 400 feet, maintain visual line of sight, register if over 0.55 lbs) and any local forest orders. Some National Forests have specific area closures during fire season or for wildlife protection, so check with the local ranger district before flying.

Wilderness areas within National Forests

One important exception within National Forests: Congressionally designated Wilderness Areas are closed to drones under the Wilderness Act. These areas prohibit motorized equipment and mechanical transport, and drones fall under that prohibition. If your planned flight area within a National Forest is a designated Wilderness Area (these appear on maps and on the USFS website), drones are not permitted there even though the surrounding National Forest allows them.

BLM land as the largest alternative

Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land covers 245 million acres across the western US and is generally drone-friendly, with fewer restrictions than either NPS or USFS land. Most BLM land requires only FAA compliance (registration, 400-foot ceiling, VLOS) and has no specific drone permit system. The BLM website lists any specific area closures, and the FAA's B4UFLY app will show any airspace restrictions above BLM land.

The NPS ban is not absolute. There are narrow, formal exceptions for specific types of authorized use. None of these apply to recreational drone pilots.

Scientific research permits

NPS issues Scientific Research and Collecting Permits to researchers affiliated with universities, government agencies, or NPS cooperators. If the permit explicitly authorizes UAS operations, the researcher may fly. The permit application process goes through the park's Research Permit and Reporting System (RPRS). Permits are issued per-project and require justification that the research cannot be conducted without drone access. Individual pilots cannot apply for this permit recreationally.

The NPS Park Aviation Manager process

For authorized scientific or administrative use, NPS has a formal aviation management structure. The Park Aviation Manager (PAM) at each park and the Regional Aviation Manager (RAM) oversee UAS operations conducted by NPS staff, cooperators, and university partners. If you work for an organization with an NPS cooperative agreement, you can pursue drone authorization through this channel. Contact the specific park's PAM directly.

Search and rescue and emergency operations

Law enforcement and search-and-rescue agencies can obtain written authorization for drone operations within parks during active emergencies. Several parks (including Grand Canyon) maintain their own drone fleets for SAR operations. These are not publicly accessible but explain why you may occasionally see a drone operating in a park during a rescue.

The FILM Act does NOT lift the drone ban

The FILM Act, signed in January 2025, allows small film crews (under 6 people) to film in national parks without a commercial filming permit for incidental filming activities. Several news outlets reported this as a change to drone rules. It is not. The FILM Act covers ground-based small-group filming. It explicitly does not affect drone operations, which remain governed by Policy Memorandum 14-05. Drone operations still require a separate written authorization from the park superintendent regardless of crew size.

Flying a drone in a national park is a federal offense. The NPS enforces violations under the same federal code that governs all NPS regulations, and the penalties are real.

Federal misdemeanor classification

Violating 36 CFR 1.5 in a national park is a Class B misdemeanor under federal law. Maximum penalties are 6 months in federal jail and a $5,000 fine per violation. In practice, most first-time offenders receive fines in the $200 to $1,000 range and the drone may be confiscated, but the statute allows for much more severe penalties and some prosecutions have reached the higher range.

How the NPS enforces drone violations

NPS rangers actively patrol for unauthorized drone operations. In heavily visited parks, rangers may monitor airspace visually or through acoustic detection. Remote ID, which requires all registered drones to broadcast their location and the operator's location in real time, makes enforcement significantly easier: a ranger with a Remote ID app can see who is operating a nearby drone without having to physically locate the pilot first. The FAA also accepts drone violation reports through its safety hotline.

What actual penalties look like in practice

In a documented Yellowstone case, an operator who flew over the Grand Prismatic Spring received a $1,000 fine plus $2,200 in restitution for resource disturbance, totaling $3,200. This is more representative of real-world outcomes than the $5,000 statutory maximum, though repeat violations and cases involving wildlife harm or resource damage trend toward the higher end. NPS rangers are also increasingly using Remote ID data to identify operators who fly and leave before rangers can reach them.

Other documented enforcement cases

The Grand Prismatic Spring case is widely cited but not isolated. At Zion National Park, a drone approached a herd of bighorn sheep during a sensitive breeding period, causing the herd to panic and separate lambs from ewes. NPS cited this incident directly in public documentation as evidence of the wildlife disturbance the 2014 ban was designed to prevent. At Yosemite, a drone was used to film El Capitan climbers in restricted airspace, resulting in both NPS citation and FAA follow-up. At Mount Rushmore, a drone attempted to land on the sculpture itself. Each of these incidents added weight to the argument for the system-wide ban and explains why the NPS has not moved to create park-by-park exceptions despite pressure from photography communities.

Confiscation and additional charges

In addition to the fine, the drone itself can be confiscated as evidence or as part of the penalty. If the drone caused any wildlife disturbance or damaged park resources (a drone that crashes into a geyser formation, for example), separate charges for resource damage may apply. Commercial operators who fly in national parks without authorization also face FAA enforcement, which can include revocation of their Part 107 certificate in addition to the NPS penalties.

The ban applies to NPS-administered land. It does not apply to the airspace above the park (which is FAA jurisdiction) or to adjacent land managed by other agencies. In practice this creates some options for pilots who want to capture footage near national parks without violating the ban.

State parks: highly variable rules

Unlike national parks, state parks set their own drone policies, and the rules vary dramatically from state to state. Some states (like Utah) allow drone flights in most state parks with registration. Others (like California) have broad restrictions in state parks. Check the specific state park agency website before assuming any state park is open. The variation is large enough that a general statement about state parks and drones is not reliable.

Adjacent public land outside NPS boundaries

Many national parks border National Forest or BLM land. The key is identifying where exactly the NPS boundary ends. This requires checking the park map carefully, since the boundary is not always obvious on the ground. Launching from outside the NPS boundary, flying at altitude, and landing outside the boundary is technically legal under FAA rules if you comply with airspace requirements. However, many popular national parks have Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFRs) or lie under controlled airspace that requires separate FAA authorization regardless of NPS rules. Always check NOTAM and airspace data before any flight near a national park.

Canadian national parks

Parks Canada applies similar restrictions to US National Parks. Drones are prohibited in all Parks Canada-administered national parks without a permit. The Canadian permit process is slightly more accessible: Parks Canada issues permits for specific scientific, educational, and commercial projects through the Filming and Photography Permit system. Recreational drone pilots still cannot fly in Canadian national parks without authorization. Transport Canada's drone rules (Canada Aviation Regulations, Part IX) also require registration and basic safety compliance as a baseline before any park access question even comes up.

Practical alternatives for landscape photography

For landscape and nature photographers who want national park-quality scenery with drone access, the best options are National Forests adjacent to popular parks, BLM land in the same geographic region, and state parks in drone-friendly states. The American Southwest has particularly good options: large areas of BLM land surround parks like Zion, Bryce Canyon, and Grand Canyon, offering comparable landscapes without the NPS jurisdiction problem.