so anyway this happened last weekend and its been bugging me. i was flying at a local county park, nothing crazy just cruising around at maybe 100 feet, and some guy walks up and says drones are not allowed and i need to land immediately. he wasnt wearing any uniform or anything, just a regular person. i asked if he worked there and he said no but said he looked it up and county parks dont allow drones. i ended up landing because i didnt want drama but i honestly dont know if he was even right. i checked the park website later and couldnt find anything specific about drones. my airspace app showed it was class G uncontrolled, no TFRs or anything. did i have to listen to this guy? like what are the actual rules here and who actually has authority to tell you to land

random member of the public has zero authority to make you land. none. now if an actual park ranger or law enforcement tells you to land thats different, you should comply even if you think youre in the right and sort it out after. but some dude who read something on his phone? no. that said county parks CAN ban drones through local ordinances and some of them do, so its worth calling the parks department directly and asking. a lot of times the rules arent posted anywhere obvious. the FAA controls the airspace but local authorities can restrict takeoff and landing on their property, its a whole preemption thing thats honestly still being litigated in some states.

ugh this happens so much. i think people just assume drones are illegal everywhere because of news stories or whatever. i usually just smile and say thanks and then check my apps again like im being super responsible about it, sometimes that defuses it. not saying you did anything wrong, the whole local vs federal jurisdiction thing is genuinely confusing even if you know what youre doing. some counties post signs, some dont bother. honestly the safest move is to just email the park ahead of time and get something in writing so you have it if this happens again