About 18 km upstream from Oakdale, the historic Gold Rush settlement of Knights Ferry is the most rewarding short trip you can make from town. The covered wooden bridge over the Stanislaus River is the centrepiece — long, dark inside, with the river audible through the timbers — and the stone ruins of an old flour mill and woollen mill sit beside it.
The whole area is run as a recreation reserve by the Army Corps of Engineers. A small visitor centre explains the Gold Rush history, picnic tables line the riverbank, and from May through September several outfitters launch rafts and kayaks here for the easy Class I-II float down to Oakdale. The drive up Sonora Road is itself worth the trip — rolling oak savannah, cattle, and the river glimpsed in the canyon below.