so i finally did the trip ive been planning for like two years and yeah the canyon is absolutely massive in person, nothing prepares you for it. anyway the short version is you absolutely cannot fly at the south rim, its all national park and the rangers are not messing around. i saw a guy get his mavic confiscated on day two, no warning just straight up taken.

what i ended up doing was driving out to some BLM land east of the park boundary, took about 45 minutes but honestly the views were still insane and i had zero issues. had to check a few maps to confirm i was actually outside the park boundary, i used the FAA drone zone app and also cross-referenced with the national park service site. the wind out there was something else though, gusting like 30+ mph by midday every day so i was mostly flying early morning which was fine because the light was better anyway.

if anyones planning this just do your research ahead of time dont show up assuming youll find a spot, the whole area is way more restricted than you'd think

yeah the BLM land trick works well out west in general. i did something similar near zion, couldnt fly anywhere near the park itself but found a spot like 20 minutes out and it was honestly just as dramatic. the permit stuff for national parks is a whole thing and from what i read they almost never approve recreational requests anyway so dont even bother applying unless you have a specific commercial reason

wait they actually confiscated it?? like permanently or did he get it back. that's kind of terrifying im bringing my mini 3 on a road trip next month and now im scared to even take it out lol