Lovely Afternoon At the Falls

Tweet

They call it High Falls. As my brother said when I sent him a photo, “It doesn’t look very high to me.” Actually, this lovely state park near Jackson, Georgia is named after the long-since defunct town of High Falls. There was a grist mill (the ruins of which are visible below the gravity dam) and a cotton gin around the High Falls Lake, which connects to the Towaliga River. Many of the thriving towns that no longer exist in Georgia were obliterated by General Sherman and his blow torch as he and the Union Army marched through the state in 1864. High Falls, however, was spared that misery (mainly because of the diagonal trek the army took from Lookout Mountain to Atlanta, then to the Atlantic Ocean). No, what did High Falls in was the railroad bypassing the town. Sadly, the ruins of the railroad bridge were themselves ruined 30 years ago with a flood. While the town no longer exists, the natural beauty of the waterfalls are doing just fine, thank you. In addition to the cascade over the manmade dam, located in the center of the park, there are a series of cascades that descend about 140 feet. The park is amazing. There are trails on both sides of the waterfalls, allowing you multiple views. It was quite the walk (over two miles), but on a comfortable spring day it was hardly a problem. (I wouldn’t try it on one of Georgia’s hot and humid August days, though.) You can see the reward for the walk, too. In the top left photo there’s a heron enjoying the Sunday afternoon along with the rest of us. Oh, what a lovely afternoon!!! PHOTO COLLAGE: (Top left) Cascade with a heron (Top right) High Falls Dam from the picnic side (Bottom left) From the bridge, as the water heads for another tumble (Bottom right) The dam from the campground side