BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY -- Imagine coming around a forested trail on the way to a mountain waterfall and running into an evangelical soapbox stand.

According to some hikers, the scene can be jarring.

That's what Bev McDowell, a hike leader with the Carolina Mountain Club, discovered on a hike July 1 in the Graveyard Fields area of the Blue Ridge Parkway, about 30 miles southwest of Asheville.

McDowell was leading a group of children in the hiking club’s Youth Partnership Hiking program. They were looking for aquatic insects in the river and then headed to a swimming hole below one of the Graveyard Fields waterfalls.

“That’s when we came across a Jehovah Witness stand. They were handing out pamphlets and free water to people,” McDowell said.

“I don’t think the forest is the place for this. The parkway land was set aside years ago to be commercial free, no advertising, no billboards. It’s an oxymoron to set up a little stand. I don’t want to see people out there selling their religion or the Girl Scouts selling cookies.”

She added that she buys Girl Scout cookies, she just doesn’t want to buy them in the woods.

The Graveyard Fields area is one of the most popular on the North Carolina side of the parkway – the linear national park is 469 miles from Virginia to Cherokee. Graveyard Fields, which shares parkway boundary with the Pisgah National Forest, is a sprawling area of trails, streams, waterfalls and in August, a wild blueberry picker’s delight.

According to parkway spokeswoman Leesa Brandon, the Jehovah Witness stand was legal since it took place on publicly owned land.

“We encourage the opportunity to have a conversation with those who want to practice the First Amendment rights (freedom of speech, the press, religion and assembly). We have some areas set up for people to do that,” Brandon said.

“Our preference is to have a heads-up and coordination with these groups to make sure it’s done safely and let our staff know this is happening, mainly for safety.”

Brandon said groups commonly set up stands at designated First Amendment sites on the parkway such as the Parkway Visitor Center, Milepost 384, Folk Art Center, Milepost 382 and the Craggy Gardens Visitor Center, Milepost 364.5.

Graveyard Fields is not one of the designated sites, but the group was within their rights, Brandon said.

The local Jehovah's Witness chapters did not respond to calls for this story.

A small group is defined as 25 people or less and is not required to obtain a First Amendment Permit if it located within a park designated First Amendment site and have no more than leaflets, booklets and/or hand held signs.

According to the Blue Ridge Parkway website, a permit is required for any small group that:

Wants to hold a demonstration or distribute and/or sell printed matter somewhere outside a designated First Amendment area

Wants to use equipment such as tables, banners, platforms, etc., even if it is within a designated area

Is merely an extension of another group already availing itself of the 25 person maximum

Wants to guarantee they will have priority for the use of a location, including the designated First Amendment areas

Large groups of 25 people or more are required to obtain a permit, even if they are using a designated First Amendment site.

The rules are similar on National Forest land. People can’t block any trails or parking areas, and can’t approach or harass people, but are free to exercise their Constitutional rights.

Marcia Bromberg, another avid Asheville hiker, said she has come across religious stands before at Graveyard Fields, where she comes to experience the beauty of the outdoors, away from the political and religious rhetoric she expects to see in the city.

"I'm sad to see this type of activity on the trail. I consider it intrusive. And while it may be legal, it is definitely inappropriate," Bromberg said.

Cathy Dowd, U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman in Asheville, said that anyone wanting to set up a stand should call their local ranger office first.

Special permits, which come with a fee, are needed for those who will need to occupy, use or build on National Forest System lands for personal or business purposes, if they are charging a fee or if an activity will include 75 or more participants or spectators, Dowd said.

Examples of activities requiring permits include trail runs, bike races and weddings, she said.

Learn more

For more information about activities on the Blue Ridge Parkway, call 828-348-3400 or visit www.nps.gov/blri.

For more about U.S. Forest Service land, call 828-257-4215 or visit www.fs.usda.gov/detail/nfsnc/.