sorry if this is a dumb question but I cant figure out if national parks have any actual airspace restriction or if its just a ground rule kind of thing. I looked on the B4UFLY app and the park doesnt show up as restricted airspace specifically but i've read that drones are banned in national parks by NPS policy. so like if I fly, am I violating FAA rules or just NPS rules and what's the difference in terms of actually getting in trouble.

I'm not planning to fly there i'm just trying to understand how all this stuff works because honestly every time I read about airspace rules I get more confused not less.

good question and it trips a lot of people up. the NPS ban is a policy/regulatory thing under their own authority, not an FAA airspace restriction. so the airspace itself might technically be class G or whatever and completely uncontrolled from a flying perspective, but NPS has the authority to regulate activities on the ground and in the air above their land up to some altitude ? I think it's been upheld in court a few times. so you could get fined under NPS regulations rather than FAA rules. different agency, different enforcement, but still real consequences. rangers have actually confiscated equipment before.

yeah what he said. and the thing that really gets people is that B4UFLY and even the FAA maps wont necessarily show NPS restrictions because its not an airspace thing. you almost have to cross reference multiple sources. I use airmap sometimes but honestly even that doesnt catch everything. tribal lands are another one that doesnt show up clearly on any app i've used but definitely has restrictions. the whole system is kind of a mess tbh and I say that as someone who actually has a part 107.