Haw

Ran this stretch with a friend who is a new paddler twice last week. The first run down was at ~1000 cfs. It's a good level for a first time paddler, nothing over class 2, but it's quite shallow at that level and we definitely left some plastic on the rocks in numerous places. The second run was after about 2 inches of rain and it was running over 3000 when we put on (about 1.5 on the 64 bridge gauge). This level was much more entertaining with some sizeable wave trains and a couple of class 3ish drops with the last drop being class 3. After these two runs I would definitely recommended this stretch at over 1500. It's undeveloped and very pretty and we saw a bunch of herons and a bald eagle.

Some additional beta from that below, for those who have never run it:

Put in at the 15/501 bridge. From the pull-off, take the right trail over the spillway and down to the small beach. Paddle up towards the dam, not too close though, and ferry out to the middle of the river, around a small island.

Head downstream underneath the bridge and through some splashy waves. You'll then head down through and below the old Bynum bridge.

For all the islands below, with the exception of the final one before the takeout, you can go to either side, but below is my recommendation.

When you hit the first split around a major island, just after the Bynum bridge, head right for a s-turn style rapid, with a little bit of maneuvering required but nothing crazy. Below this you'll come to some small rock outcroppings in which you can go wherever. At the next island after this you can go either way, but I suggest going left. After just shy of a quarter mile you will see some channels running towards river right in between the islands. Head down the channel and you will end up at a bend with a ledge drop with a sizeable wave (3+ ft @ 3k) and then another ledge drop just below that. This is quite a fun splash for novice paddlers and probably the biggest wave on the river.

Head down through some more rock outcroppings and some small islands.
You'll then come a a large island with a large outcropping of rocks scattered across river right. It almost looks like the river ends and shunts completely to the left. But don't go left here as this is the last island and if you do go left you end up below the 64 bridge takeout. Head right through through this maze of rocks and down through the two most difficult rapids of the run. The first just requires some maneuvering around some rocks and small holes (class 2-2+). At 3k, the last drop, which the poster below refers to as mini-s-turn is what I found to be the only legit class three drop, but it's manageable for a beginner/novice and quite fun. You have to maneuver around a couple of rocks and you come to a river wide ledge. The only good way through this is to head far river left around a drop which curves back around sharply toward the center of the river. Hence, mini-s-turn.

This is a fun, fast little drop. My friend had only ever paddled twice and handled it just fine. After that just paddle down to the 64 bridge and catch the micro takeout eddy. See you on the river!