Hello everyone,

We're planning a trip to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon (USA) in the next few months, as soon as it becomes cool enough and all the tourists are gone ...

Does anyone have any experiences shooting in an environment where "if you lose control of your drone, it's probably lost forever"?

But also, does anyone know the laws regarding aerial cinematography in a national park?  Is there anything in particular, aside from the obvious FAA recommendations, that I should be aware of?

For example, would it be legal (and not frowned upon) to fly the drone off the side of the rim, while standing at the top of the rim looking down?  And to fly the Inspire 2 essentially anywhere I can get to with line of sight?  Up above the canyon, down into the canyon, etc?

We aren't exactly experienced at this type of flying.  We generally try to fly in areas where not much is going on, especially in protected lands with special laws.  But we do want to record as much beautiful land as we can before the humans destroy it ... Ha ha.

All suggestions or experiences would be most greatly appreciated!

(PS, for any of you who haven't been to the Southern Utah and Northern Arizona area of USA, it is absolutely unbelievably beautiful in that part of the country.)

We plan to do Zion National Park as well as Arches National Park in the same trip if we can, as well.  Hoping for some good insight.

Thanks!

I don't know regulations. Would love the see the video if you get it done. Never been three

I saw a video of some Lithuania tourists who tried this with a Phantom. Immediately arrested and handcuffed by park security and made to delete all their footage.

Ohh noooooo!  What a bummer!

Man, that would be such an awesome opportunity.  Maybe I'll contact the park and see if there is a permit that can be obtained.

Some of the super-cool hikes at these parks, they require you to file for a permit.  The reason being, they want to know who to look for if they never return; but also so that they don't let certain hikes that might be dangerous become overcrowded and even more dangerous.

But wow that's too bad about the "NO DRONE ZONE".  I guess we could rent a helicopter and do the same thing though, huh?  Just a heck of a lot louder and far more intrusive to the environment.



Ha ha.

fly from outside park boundaries.

Hey mate, I can tell you 2 things on Zion.
Screw the Angel's Landing hike. It's amazing okay, but the crowds just destroyed it. It's really not special anymore and due to the numbers of people, it became dangerous. I think they will do or have already done permits. But there is one amazing hike that is not as crowded, that's called the Observation Point. Here's a link to the guide as well: https://www.10adventures.com/hikes/zion-national-park/observation-point/ It's really amazing, the views are magnificent.
And the other suggestion for Zion is going to Kolob Area. It's just outside the main area but the drive and the hikes are amazing, there are almost no people around and it has BLM camping, where you can stay for free. I think you should find the location and info here https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g143057-d103339-Reviews-Kolob_Terrace_Road-Zion_National_Park_Utah.html.
It's not easy to find the BLM camping but they are literally near the Toquerville Falls. you will see other tents in the area. Zion is amazing, sadly it's just crowded all the time. Here's the location:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Toquerville+Falls/@37.2484255,-113.2647629,12.31z/data=!4m13!1m7!3m6!1s0x80caecb99b99570d:0x3dfad0881c5ceed1!2sKolob+Terrace+Rd,+Utah,+USA!3b1!8m2!3d37.3453326!4d-113.096132!3m4!1s0x80ca8cd0be167ddb:0x444dc94f67840d80!8m2!3d37.2987732!4d-113.247242

national parks USA: nfz ! no chance to get a permit, even comercial permit is nearly impossible to get !