Pinal County, AZ Drone Rules: Park Drone Restrictions (2026)

, governs everything from park hours to firearms, fires, and aircraft on land the county owns or operates as a 'county park,' a term defined in Sec. 16-19 to include parks, trailheads, trails and preserved open space posted on the county's park list. Subsection (k), titled 'Aircraft, parachutes and hang gliders,' makes it unlawful to operate any aircraft, expressly including drones, or to parachute or hang glide on county park property, except in areas the county has designated for that use or in a genuine emergency.

S. Title 28 (subsection (c)), and bicycles are confined to roads or established trails (subsection (d)). A visitor who wants to fly a drone for a legitimate purpose, such as a permitted commercial shoot, has to apply for a park use permit under Sec. 16-25, which lets the Open Space and Trails Department negotiate fees, require insurance, and set conditions before any exception is granted. Because the ordinance covers 'aircraft of any nature,' it reaches remote-control airplanes and model aircraft as well as consumer drones; there is no separate carve-out for hobbyist or recreational flying.

The rule was adopted by Resolution No. 100417-MPR in 2017 and last amended by Ordinance No. 111622-OST in November 2022, and it applies countywide to every posted county park in unincorporated Pinal County, not to city-run parks in Florence, Casa Grande, Maricopa or the county's other incorporated cities.