okay so I've heard the whole thing about not flying in national parks and I get it but my buddy was telling me that some parks have designated areas where its allowed or you can get a permit or something. we're planning a trip to a park out west and I really want to bring the mini 4 pro. is there any truth to that or is he just wrong

also does this apply to state parks too because I feel like that's different but I'm not totally sure how it all works. kind of new to figuring out the rules side of all this

your buddy is partially right but its complicated. national parks managed by the NPS have a blanket policy against launching, landing, or operating drones within park boundaries ? thats been the case since like 2014. but some parks have issued special use permits for things like commercial film crews, research stuff, that kind of thing. for regular recreational use though its basically a no. state parks are totally different, each state handles it differently and some are totally fine with drones if you follow the local rules

definitely look up the specific park youre going to because some have different rules around wilderness areas vs developed areas and it can get confusing fast. and DJI's geofencing wont necessarily stop you in all of these places so dont rely on the app to tell you if its okay

state parks vary SO much. i fly in one near me all the time with no issues and then drove an hour to a different state park and there were signs everywhere saying no drones. just google the specific park name + drone policy before you go, most of them have something on their official site now. took me a few frustrating trips to figure that out lol