broken beer bottle in the Rock City area
broken beer bottle in the Rock City area
For many generations in Sonoma there has been one consistent drinking spot for teenagers and that has been The Plat. For those of you who are wondering where exactly this place is and why it is so popular, look no further.
Where?
The Plat is located up above Mountain Cemetery above the Overlook Trail. It is a very steep and at certain places a treacherous trail,especially in the dark and even more so while intoxicated. Yesterday, we took a daytime hike up there and took some photos. The trail in many place drops off into a deep and rocky ravine and this time of year the hillside is extremely dry and the fire potential is HUGE. As you climb higher and begin to take side “deer” trails above the overlook the rocks become less stable and the trail more narrow.
Firepit
Once at the top you reach rock walls and rock sculptures created by the teens of Sonoma over the generations and further still there is a rock “cave”like pit with a fire pit. The fire pit as well as cigarette butts/packs should be a very big concern due to the incredible fire danger that the Sonoma Valley has during summer and fall months. Let’s face it: fire and drunk teenagers – for many reasons – is a recipe for disaster.
Why?
Due to the steep incline and out of the way location it makes uninterrupted partying an easy accomplishment. Additionally, the view from up there is one that looks over the trails leading up to the Plat and the kids can see when the police are coming with essentially a 20 minute head start escape out the back trails. 
The fence line has been breached in numerous places and there are multiple trails in and out of the area. The kids disperse down various trails and it becomes near impossible for law enforcement to catch them. It should also be noted that while law enforcement is busy hiking up the trail to get the kids down it takes them away from their patrols down in the valley. This could potentially create a dangerous situation in the Valley.
This breach in the fence line is along a back "trail" and leads back into Mountain Cemetery
Falling off a cliff while drunk, setting fire to the hills above a historical cemetery, not to mention the rattlesnakes. These are just a few of the reasons we should be concerned about our Valley’s teens drinking at the “Plat”.
“Falling off a cliff while drunk” has never happened at the Plat. The kids of Sonoma are not foolish and stupid, we are responsible enough to be intoxicated and know that there is a cliff 3 feet away from us.
Sending a helicopter up to the Plat for two kegs of beer, which occurred last Tuesday, seems like an extreme waste of time and money for the Sonoma County Police Department.
[...] Valley Coalition to Prevent Underage Drinking « The “Plat” Coalition Data Findings September 15, 2009 The following findings area culmiation of [...]
Are you kidding me. a helicopter. youll have to do better then that the plat is a coming of age ritual in sonoma why kill it. no one dies.. gets seriously hurt.. alcohol poisoning.. not one rattlesnake bite.. not one fire.. sure we got kids to eat some raw burgers but that was their fault.. same with the hotdogs that fell off the ground. if they seriously want to bust us then they can do it on their feet.. it was one thing when they were coming up on their four wheelers and dirt bikes which was pathetic enough especially seeing as how some could barely fit.. but when they come up in a HELICOPTER?!?! that is just when they cross the line. how much taxpayer money was spent just giving teenagers a scare and not accomplishing anything? I for one am outraged! and to the cops who poured out the second keg. that is not the american way. I will have you know the first keg that was never found made its way down the mountain and we proceeded to consume it at an incredible rate. we hope that the helicopter was a rental cause if we own that then, well thats pretty tight. but why? in sonoma? why? why why why why? do we have a batmobile too?
signed,
redcup Krew.
The plat also allows one a view of the entire valley, and on a clear night also the lights of cities surrounding the San francisco Bay. This article makes the hills of Sonoma sound like taboo. So the teens of Sonoma drink, big deal. Doesn’t everyone in Sonoma Valley Drink? Is it a coincidence that a large majority of teens drink, when Sonoma is a WINE oriented town. If there is no correlation between the two then I must be high. Preventing underage drinking in Sonoma is like fermenting a glassy winged sharpshooter into a fine champagne, it just won’t work…
Kids have been drinking at the plat for over 50 years and there has never been any fatalities or fires.
Lower the drinking age, so tax paying, draft registered adults won’t have to hike miles into the wilderness to drink.
Rather than forcing us to find a new place to defy the law (we will), why not let us do it within the confines of the law, and make it an altogether safer practice?
People will drink no matter what the law says. Prohibition does not work.
this is one of the most half assed and terrible articles i’ve ever read. how about sonoma law enforcement makes some priorities
kids want to have fun. the plat is a unique peace of land that makes sonoma sonoma and will never be drug/alcohol free
This has to be a joke or something.
Whoever runs this site honestly believes that wasting Sonoma’s tax dollars to stop “plats” from occurring. There are so many other issues in Sonoma right now: the high DUI rate, meth abuse, school delinquency, and an increasing gang presence in our school and in our community. Why don’t you find a way to save our tax dollars for more worthy public works projects and focus on providing safe avenues for teen alcohol consumption. Frankly, it’s not going to stop and everyone knows it, so why don’t you advocate the more progressive attitude of harm reduction?
The city is NOT responsible for your children. If you don’t want your kids going to the “plat” then be a more responsible parent. I don’t call the police to change my child’s diaper, and you shouldn’t either. A lot of kids go up there, I wouldn’t be surprised if their are kids whose parents who are involved with this go up there. I would much rather the police make it safe for me to walk on the bike path or use Larson Park at night then wasting their time dealing with 30 kids at the plat. If you don’t want your kids going up there, then be a more responsible parent, you don’t need to create a nanny state for all of us to make up for the lousy parenting of a few.
It really doesn’t matter if you “shut down” the plat because kids will find another place to drink. I don’t say that in a snotty sort of you-can’t-stop-us way, but in all honestly you can’t truly believe that you’re going to stop teen drinking. The city of Sonoma doesn’t provide NEARLY enough alternatives to underage drinking and expects a high schoolers in a town of less than 20,000 to not drink? You’ve really disassociated yourself from your youth, I can’t imagine you lived a life of alcohol abstinence as college and high school students.
Sending police up in such large numbers, especially police that make an effort to sneakily go up to the plat, only promotes further dangers to those up there. Many people run away simply because nobody wants to face the draconian laws related to underage drinking and the less than cordial police who greet them.
yeah the plat is the spot to kick it and drink but at least we are walking around instead of driveing everywere drunk. we may be teens and not be the smartest but we know not to start fires thats why we got a fire pit and we always have water and dirt. we may be dumb but we are not stupid. and for your info teens are not the ony people to go up there bums live up there. we also clean up our garbage we have teens who go up there and clean up as well so yawl may try and stop us from partying but trust me we have more places to party then the plat or the rock city. we got roof tops, Vince’s ashtray, twin palms, marshals bench, elf look, bloody tower, high point, the white wall and etc. u kn the names but can you find them? CHEERS!
yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee..;)
plat rulsss…!!
As a tax payer I would personally far rather my hard earned money was put towards a crime that has a victim. Kids head to the hills because it is out of the way, and no one is being disturbed. As the article above states, the plat has been a popular party spot for generations, yet I wonder, over the course of these generations has there ever once been a fire caused at the plat due to teen partying? Though I’m not entirely certain, as I likely haven’t been around since the plat’s christening, the answer to that question is no. I strongly urge everyone who reads this article to engage in a short walk above the cemetery, take a good look around. Kids aren’t stupid, the last thing they want is for a their favorite party spot to be destroyed by fires. Rock City is dubbed so for a reason. It is a giant expanse of nothing but rock, and last time I checked, rock wasn’t a highly flame able substance. The Sonoma police department, along with those administrators responsible for wasting tax payers dollars, need to re-evaluate their priorities, and stop being drawn “away from their patrols down in the valley” to break up what is otherwise an entirely harmless activity.