If you 're planning to enjoy this spring or summer at a national park , you 'd better leave your drone at home . On Friday , Yosemite National Park in California turned heads when it announced that drones , the unmanned aircraft increasingly making their way into private hands , are n't welcome in the park , famous for its picturesque valley of towering granite cliffs , waterfalls and Giant Sequoia groves . Apparently using drones to capture experiences at the park , on the western edge of the Sierra Nevada mountains , is becoming a trend . `` The park has experienced an increase in visitors using drones within park boundaries over the last few years , '' park management said in a news release . `` Drones have been witnessed filming climbers ascending climbing routes , filming views above tree-tops , and filming aerial footage of the park . '' And it 's not just Yosemite . The buzzing aerial machines , which have become handy for everything from scaring off unwanted birds to delivering medicine and pizzas , are n't welcome at any of the 58 national parks . 15 ways drones will change your life . `` The ... regulations cited at Yosemite apply at all units of the National Park System , '' spokesman John Quincy said in an e-mail to CNN . The Code of Federal Regulations states that `` delivering or retrieving a person or object by parachute , helicopter , or other airborne means , except in emergencies involving public safety or serious property loss , or pursuant to the terms and conditions of a permit '' is illegal . The parks system says that applies to drones , though privately owned , unmanned aircraft probably were n't on anyone 's mind when it was written . Yosemite 's news release cited a list of ways the aircraft can be harmful . Among them : Ruining the experience for visitors with their noise , interfering with rescue operations and endangering wildlife in the area -- particularly the peregrine falcons that nest in the park 's cliff walls . A quick search on YouTube finds a host of of videos shot using drones at Yosemite and other national parks . Some merely show shaky video from beginners sending their craft into the sky for the first time , while others are more professional productions that provide breathtaking views of the park 's mountains , trees and cyclists and hikers . In a bit of irony , firefighters used a drone to battle the Yosemite Rim blaze that raged in and around the park last August .
The U.S. National Park Service says drones are not welcome . Sierra National , in California , said they 're being used to shoot deer . Drones make noise and can harm delicate wildlife , parks say . YouTube shows a host of live videos from Yosemite .