so this happened a couple weeks ago and ive been meaning to post about it. was out near zion, not inside the park itself because i know thats a hard no, but just outside the boundary on what i was pretty sure was blm land. had done my homework or so i thought, checked the faa map, b4ufly said good to go

ranger rolls up and wasnt exactly aggressive but definitely wasnt friendly either. told me i was closer to the park boundary than i realized and that there had been complaints from hikers about drones. ended up just packing it up, he didnt write anything up but it was uncomfortable and kind of ruined the vibe for the rest of the day

lesson i guess is that the map boundaries and the actual physical terrain dont always line up the way you expect, and even if youre technically legal the situation can still go sideways. also maybe dont fly when theres a ton of hikers around even if you can

ugh yeah national park adjacent areas are tricky because the rangers sometimes dont fully know where their jurisdiction ends and they dont always care either. not saying they were wrong to stop you but ive had similar where i was clearly on blm and still got the look. i just keep screenshots of my airspace authorization and a screenshot of the map with my gps coords on my phone now, never had to use it but makes me feel better

honestly even when your legal its just not worth the confrontation sometimes. i made a rule for myself that if theres a lot of foot traffic i just dont bother, the shots usually arent that great anyway with people everywhere and its just asking for someone to complain. find a spot an hour before sunrise and you usually have the place to yourself