JT and I got on the Goodwin Canyon after the second day of our TRR. John was gracious enough to run a shuttle up 2 Mile Bar road for us, so we got a late start, around 6:30. Fortunately, the run only takes about 45 minutes boat scouting along the way. There is a higher put in, a few more miles up, but you only miss one rapid using the lower put in. In the upper section we didn't run is Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (Class IV+) followed by the mandatory portage at Matterhorn (go right and die, go left and get pummeled before getting shoved into undercut). There are a few miles of mellow Class II before the 2 Mile Bar put in.

From Two Mile down, the river is slow and winding through the canyon. All of the rocks in the canyon are older granites, worn and eroded by time. In many places huge granite boulders have been tumbled into the river as the whole canyon was mined and excavated extensively during the Gold Rush.

Beautiful early evening light on the Stanislaus. High granite cliffs dot the edges of this run.

In the first few miles there are two class II runs. The first is a small boulder garden the the second has a slight left bend with water piling into the right wall.

JT below the second warm up rapid.

Right after the two warm up rapids, the river bounces down into Class III+-IV Pinball Rapids . Upper Pinball splits the river around a rock in the middle, and should be run down the right side. After the entrance, there is a large eddy on the right where you can boat scout the next part of the drop. In the next part you move left to right avoiding the undercut rocks that fill the rapid. Although the rapid isn't too hard, it would be a gnarly swim.

Below Upper Pinball is the Iron Box. This rapid is boat scoutable on river right behind the boulder. From behind the boulder you can look down into the narrow channel which is the iron box. The river drops steeply over a rock into a ledge-hole. The move is to boof right over the ledge into the small pool below. The left side of the drop is undercut, and the guarding hole above the ledge makes this move tricky.

JT moving to boof right over The Iron Box.

In the pool below The Iron Box. There is also another small ledge below in the background.

The last part of Pinball, Lower Pinball is next up. Here you need to start left, then head to the right, and then dodge back left to avoid the undercut rocks on the right bank. Again, like much of the run, this wouldn't be the best place to take a swim because of all the undercut rocks.

The last Class IV rapid on the run is called Haunted House. This needs to be run left to right watching for the "room of doom" on right side. The room isn't a problem at 500cfs, but at higher water can be quite nasty.

A little farther down after a long pool is Class III Last Rapid. This is named because it is the last rapid before the 1 mile paddle out to Knights Ferry Recreation Area. This one is tricky because there are so many possible lines in it. We both ran down the center, and then dodged left of the rock pile in the middle. The hole in here is not as sticky as it looks from above, no worries.

JT running the enterance to Last Rapid.

Below Last Rapid the river flattens out for a bit until the Knights Ferry Recreation Area where you can leave shuttle vehicles. It would be very difficult to hitch on this run. The run took us a total of 45 minutes, only boat scouting.

Awesome reflection photo near the end of Goodwin Canyon.

To access 2 Mile Bar Recreation Area, Take Hwy 108N past Knights Ferry to Tulloch Road. Turn left on Tulloch Road and an immediate left back onto 108S. Head 108S for 1 mile and turn right on 2 Mile Bar Recreation Area and Fishing Access. Drive to the end of the road and follow the path 1/4 mile to the river.

**Thanks to friendly Army Corps Ranger John Chapman for the shuttle and helpful info. John is always happy to talk rivers and can be reached at 209-881-3530 x30.

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