Best Places to Fly
Your Drone in Des Moines

With large campgrounds, numerous walking trails, and boat ramps toward Lake Ester, there is a lot to see in the Easter Lake Park. If you’re confident enough to fly your drone above water, then you have a huge playground for drone flight here with impressive sights all around. The park has been remodeled recently so it’s worth a visit, even if you’ve been in the area in the past.

A fairly popular campsite, Jester Park features thick woods, hiking trails, and a gorgeous view of the nearby lake. The camping grounds can get fairly crowded during the summer months and there’s a good chance that you will encounter wildlife in the woods. The park should offer plenty of open space for drone flight either over land or water.

The Big Creek Lake is one of the more prominent bodies of water in Des Moines. It’s also one of the most picturesque, especially if you can be here at sunset. We recommend launching a drone from the Big Creek Beach, but the lake is riddled with boat ramps and marinas so you should not run out of new spaces for drone flight.

The Dale Maffitt Reservoir or Maffitt Lake is a favorite spot of locals for hiking and fishing. Most people go here for its peace and quiet, so we recommend being extra considerate when flying your drone. Fortunately, the Maffitt Lake is big enough to make this a rare issue.

The Paragon Prairie Tower is a historical and prominent landmark in Urbandale, Iowa. It is a tall, glass mosaic mural that lights up beautifully at night. If you can avoid the crowds that typically congregate at the Paragon Prairie Tower, then you will quickly find it to be one of your favorite spots for aerial photography.

Despite being a fairly small park, the best thing about MacRae Park is that it rarely gets crowded. It has baseball fields and basketball courts that could be good spaces for drone flight if there are no people around. The scenery here isn’t much, but it is close enough to the Thunder Bay that you can catch photos of the horizon from a high altitude.

The Women of Achievement Bridge is one of the more recognizable sights in Des Moines and is a great subject for drone photography. You can get good shots of the bridge from any of the parks at either side of the Des Moines river. We also recommmend catching drone shots of the bridge at night with all of its stunning lights.