What Are the Rules for Flying Your Drone in Horseshoe Bend

The Horseshoe Bend is an eye candy located in the town of Page, Arizona, United States, and it is one great place to take some drone footage right? but is it legal? can you fly a drone in the Horseshoe Bend?

You can’t fly a drone over The Horseshoe Bend, the laws are the same as National Parks located in the United States. The law states you cannot operate a drone from a national park, you can only operate it from outside.

“within the national park” but you can fly over it? Keep reading to find out more.

Is there a way to operate your drone over Horseshoe Bend

Drones or any other unmanned aircraft are not allowed to take off or land in a national park.

NPS

NPS(National Park Service) has banned the use of recreational UAVs within national parks across the country, and If you haven’t already known Horseshoe Bend is considered part of the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.

So if it is a part of a national park the law will be the same as other natural parks

However, if you find a way to take off nearby, you can operate your drone inside the national park without disturbing visitors and any type of wide life that might be present of course.

If you can find a location close to the National Park, in this case of the Horseshoe bend, and take off from there, you are technically allowed to fly. However, this is a risky move because the whole National Park might not be in a visual line of sight from where you took off, even though it is a common practice to fly far over the visual line of site FAA is against it.

Not only that but there is an abundance of wild animals in the horseshoe bend such as White-tailed deer, wild turkey, and squirrel, along with a diverse population of snakes, turtles, and by flying close to the national park you can receive a citation for disturbing wildlife.

There is also the fact that as a recreational pilot you have to follow a few other rules and regulations.

Some of those include:

• You need to remain in the line of sight of your drone at all times.
• Don’t disturb others
• And don’t fly over a crowd of people

Why Are Drones Banned In National Parks?

The drone ban goes back to 2014 when drones weren’t as common.

In 2011, when the drone industry was still in its infancy, a drone pilot by the name Raphael Pirker was stopped by park rangers while flying a small Styrofoam drone at Grand Canyon National Park, Once he landed the drone, they seized the drone’s memory card and issued him a ticket.

as consumer drones grew in popularity, incidents like this one became more and more common which lead to the prohibition of drones throughout the national parks located in the united states.

In mid 2014, Yosemite National Park issued a ban on drone, Shortly after other national parks including Zion National Park and Great Smoky Mountains National Park, followed suit.

Then soon after the NPS issued a blanket ban, prohibiting the use of drones in all national parks across the U.S.

As someone who is part of the drone community you might not be happy about it but imagine the amount of noise, there would be if drones were allowed in natural parks

The reasons were a handful and enough for NPS to decide to take action and ban drones all together drone every national park located in the united states including the horseshoe bend, the main one being a disturbance

Here’s a breakdown of why NPS banned drones from National Parks:

• The major reason that led to the drone ban was the noise and visual distraction the drones were making for anyone who is just trying to enjoy the beauty of the park.
• The second most important reason were animals that reside in the parks, and their peace

What Happens If I Violate the Drone Ban?

What is considered a violation is not a clear cut line but use your common sense and avoid crossing national parks boundaries.

Violating NPS laws and operating your drones, with or without being aware of the law in national parks can lead up to six months in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.