this is kind of a weird one. so i was flying at a county park last weekend, nothing special just practicing some slow cruising shots over a pond area, and this older guy came up to me and said drones are banned in all parks and that i needed to leave or hed call someone. i honestly wasnt sure what to say because i didnt actually know if he was right or not. i ended up packing up just to avoid the confrontation but it kind of bugged me after.

like i know national parks have the ban, that ones well documented. but county parks? i checked the B4UFLY app before i went and nothing showed up as restricted. airspace wise i was well outside any class D or anything, just normal class G uncontrolled. so was he just making stuff up or is there something im missing about local ordinances. genuinely dont know how to find that info

this comes up constantly and the answer is annoyingly complicated. airspace rules and land use rules are totally separate things. B4UFLY and LAANC only deal with airspace ? they have nothing to do with whether the land owner or managing agency allows drones. county parks, state parks, city parks, private property, HOA land etc all can have their own rules completley independent of the FAA stuff. so you can have totally clear airspace but still be trespassing or violating a local ordinance.

for county parks specifically it really depends on where you are. some counties have explicit drone bans, some have nothing on the books at all, and some require a permit. the only way to really know is to dig up the actual park regulations for your specific county, usually buried on their website or you have to call the parks department. its a pain but getting a fine or having your stuff confiscated is worse

honestly that guy probably had no idea what he was talking about and was just one of those people who sees a drone and gets upset. happens to me all the time. but the frustrating part is he also might have accidentally been correct depending on your county rules, just for the wrong reasons. i had a similar situation at a state forest and the guy was totally wrong, i had checked the regulations beforehand and showed him on my phone and he just kind of wandered off. probably worth keeping any relevant park rules pulled up on your phone if you can find them, at least you have something to show people