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After Prairie Creek the river stays more bunched up and there are a few more class II rapids for nearly ten miles.  Camping areas are still plentiful, although perhaps not as easily found.

Rather abruptly the valley walls close in on the river and a canyon begins.  The rapids start with Entrance Exam, a nearly river wide reversal.  There is a narrow sneak route on the left side.  Depending on water level and craft type, all of your boat may not fit far enough left and somebody will get wet.  Oh, the pity!

To identify this drop before it sneaks up on you, as the river turns to the left, you will see on river right, a large, high, steep bank covered with shrubs and alders.  River left will have a large steep sided gravel bar unless the water is very high.  Up ahead the water turns sharply right and disappears over the horizon line and into a narrow slot canyon.  You want to get out on river right. There are no eddies here but the current is slower near the edge, so slow down, grab an alder tie your boat to it so you can scout the rapids.  There are trails in here that lead you to an overlook of Entrance Exam, and by climbing to the top of the high bank you can see Toilet Bowl Rapids below you.  If you miss the scouting take out, just remember to stay left as you see the horizon line disappear into the narrow gap that the river has to run through as it turns sharply right.

By staying left, you can easily negotiate Entrance Exam.  The water following will be flat but swirling about in a short narrow slot canyon. If the water is high you will need to put some serious effort into keeping your boat from going sideways into a wall. Just keep your bow pointed directly into whatever cliff face the water is pushing you towards. There will usually be a water pillow along those walls that you can use to slow yourself down with. This quickly widens into a calmer area where you can get out on river right if the water is low and examine the rest of Toilet Bowl. If the water is high, do all your scouting from the cliff above before you get this far. The usual route through the bottom of Toilet Bowl is to enter on river right and do a frantic back ferry to the left to avoid the rocks that jut out on the right.  Start this frantic back ferry right after you pass the first set of center rocks/holes.  Alternatively, you can enter left of center and make your way through as best you can, but at some water levels this can be difficult.

The water calms off, but remains fast for the next few miles before entering the Sluice Box. This is a 10 mile section that is often hemmed in by vertical rock sides while the river keeps dropping fast.  There are several large wave train sections and numerous large holes to fall into. At high water the holes are huge, but if your boat is loaded you can just power straight through them. Don't slow down if you are approaching them. In here, at lower levels there is also another large, nearly river-wide hole that needs to be negotiated river left.  You can identify it by the rather straight and calm water above a sudden right turn around a rock outcropping on the right.  Right there, at the right turn, you will be wishing you had paid more attention to these instructions, or had at least remembered the advice; “When in doubt, stay left.”  That advice works for almost all this river.  Kayakers will often want to stop and play here.  Them are strange folk.

At low water there is one other drop in the Sluice Box worth noting where the river spreads out and turns left over a series of ledges.  Again, the safest route is right next to the left bank.  However, I have seen a cataraft accidentally run right though the middle of this.  It’s usually pretty boney at low water and nasty looking at medium flows. At high water everything just sort of blends together here, but plenty of other sections offer some awe inspiring thrills.

The rapids are more or less continuous for miles and drops at about 30 to 40 feet per mile. None of this is much over class III+ at low to medium flows, and most of it is just class II.  At at high water everything gets bigger and it is certainly class IV through much of the Sluice Box. Your boat will most likely be full & heavy, and you are remote, so it’s best to be careful & conservative. As with most rivers, the Talkeetna gets easier after a few times down it. If this is your first time, caution is advised, and taking someone familiar with the river is generally a good idea.

The rapids end almost as suddenly as they start, as you exit through another narrow notch in the canyon walls. There are good camping areas on an island just below here on river left. Just below this, Iron Creek enters on river left and there is somtimes a good camping area on the gravel bar on river right.  If the salmon are running, the upper end of this gravel bar is often a good fishing spot.  About 12 miles below this, Disappointment Creek enters on river right and there is another good camping area just above the creek on the same side.

Right below Disappointment Creek there is a small set of rapids and the river runs through another narrow canyon for a few miles.  There are few other places where