A new law allows small crews to film in national parks without permits, bringing relief to travel vloggers who previously faced strict regulations
Denver: On January 4th, President Biden signed the EXPLORE Act, which is a big deal for national park visitors. It introduces new bike trails, more camping options, and a cool change for filmmakers: small crews can now film without needing a commercial permit, as long as they follow park rules.
This is a total game changer for travel vloggers like us. Before, the rules treated us the same as big Hollywood crews, making it tough and expensive to get permits. Now, if you have a crew of six or fewer, you can film for fun or profit without all that hassle.
This new law opens up so many opportunities for us. It’s a personal win that finally puts an end to the stress we faced that made us stop visiting national parks altogether.
Back in 2020, when COVID hit, we couldn’t travel abroad, so we got a converted Sprinter van and decided to explore every state in the US. We shared our adventures on YouTube, including trips to Rocky Mountain and Sand Dunes National Parks.
While biking the Colorado Trail, we got a scary voicemail from officials saying someone reported us for filming without permits. They told us we had to call the National Parks Service and pay over $1,000 or face arrest. Plus, we’d be banned from filming in national parks.
We messed up by not checking the filming rules first, but when we looked into getting a permit, it felt so unfair. The process seemed made for big productions, not small creators like us with just a handheld camera.
To get permission, we had to:
- List every crew member, piece of gear, and even any animals we’d bring.
- Pay a $325 application fee and $150 for each day in the park.
- Submit a detailed plan 2-4 weeks ahead of time.
These demands were just too much for us. We love spontaneous adventures and discovering hidden gems, not sticking to strict plans. Filling out paperwork for every park a month in advance was frustrating and just didn’t work for us.
It broke our hearts. We could’ve visited the parks without filming, but we love documenting our travels. Sharing these amazing places inspires others to explore or lets those who can’t travel enjoy the beauty through our videos. So, we decided to skip national parks on our road trip.
A year later, the filmmaker community got a huge win when a court ruled it was unconstitutional to require permits for filming in national parks. New guidelines allowed “low-impact filming” without permits for small groups using handheld cameras—just like us! We even filmed in Yellowstone under these new rules. But sadly, that ruling was overturned in 2022, bringing back the strict permit requirements.
Now, with the EXPLORE Act, everything changes for independent filmmakers and travel vloggers. We can finally share the content we love with our audience, as long as we respect the parks. We’re super excited to visit national parks again and show off some of the world’s most stunning natural wonders.
