Large Underage Drinking Party in New York State Forest Shut Down

Remember the days of meeting your friends in the woods on a Friday or Saturday night for a big party?

One party in Upstate New York drew a growing crowd of underage drinkers—thanks in part to social media—and by the time Forest Rangers arrived, it was clear this wasn’t just a small get-together.

It was a typical spring Friday night when Forest Rangers got word of a possible underage drinking party brewing at Sand Flats State Forest in Lewis County.

At first, it looked pretty low-key—just about 10 people hanging out in the woods. But by 11:30 PM, the crowd had tripled, ballooning to 30 people after word of the party spread like wildfire on social media.

Backup Called In

Sensing things might get out of hand, Forest Rangers called for backup.

A New York State Police unit and two more Forest Rangers showed up to help get the situation under control. They strategically stationed themselves at the main entrance and took a calm, respectful approach, talking to each group individually to keep things from escalating.

As the night went on, Rangers interviewed 20 partygoers and ended up issuing 13 violations, most of them for underage possession of alcohol and for leaving trash on State land.

Even worse? The group had apparently planned to burn tires and wooden pallets—something that could have turned dangerous fast, not to mention incredibly harmful to the environment.

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Night Ended Safely

Thankfully, things didn’t spiral.

The attendees were cooperative, cleaned up the area, and the Rangers conducted field sobriety tests to make sure everyone was okay to drive.

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If you're going to party and you're underage, (something we've all done a time or two when we were young), it's probably a good idea NOT to do it on state owned land...or post about it on social media!

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