High Falls State Park, State park with waterfalls in Jackson, Georgia.

High Falls State Park is a 1,050-acre state park near Jackson in Monroe County, Georgia, where the Towaliga River drops 135 feet over a wide shelf of reddish-brown rock, splitting into white streams around smooth slabs before collecting in a grey-green pool. Dark green trees line the top of the falls, and a 650-acre lake lies within the park.

High Falls grew in the early 19th century into an industrial town with stores, a grist mill, a cotton gin, a blacksmith shop and a shoe factory. It became a ghost town in the 1880s when a major railroad bypassed it. The 1890 bridge on Old Alabama Road, mostly destroyed in the 1994 flood, still partly stands above the shoals.

The name High Falls comes from the Towaliga River dropping 135 feet over the rock shelf. Hikers reach the foundation of the old grist mill and the ruins of the powerhouse, remains of the 19th-century industrial town bypassed by the railroad in the 1880s. The Old Alabama Road bridge, built in 1890 and mostly destroyed in the 1994 flood, still partly stands above the shoals.

The park is open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., and the office operates from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Parking costs $5, and annual passes are available. The address for GPS is 76 High Falls Park Drive, Jackson, Georgia 30233. The park has 97 tent/trailer/RV campsites, five picnic shelters, a paddle-in primitive campsite, a group shelter, a pioneer campground, a miniature golf course, and a swimming pool.

The park shelters wildlife like otters and native fish species that thrive in the river and lake, creatures that were nearly absent during the industrial era. Observant visitors occasionally spot signs of this animal life along the water's edge.