High Shoals is a 35-foot waterfall and shoal on the Apalachee River in Oconee County, Georgia, beside the town of High Shoals and the ruins of a mill founded in 1846.
The falls
A single 35-foot drop is listed, though the entry is still marked unconfirmed; a Georgia place-name gazetteer describes the falls as 60 feet, as did earlier surveys. The natural shoals share the reach with two mill dams, an upper masonry dam about 11 feet high and a lower concrete dam about 8 feet high.
Getting there
GA 186 at High Shoals is river mile 31 on the Apalachee River. The road to the sandy beach below the falls is private property. No public trail, parking area or land manager is documented.
When to go
Paddlers run this stretch and have portaged the dam; as recently as April 2026 a trip report noted seven river-wide deadfalls downstream. Exposed rebar at the brink and a rock in the landing area are safety concerns below the falls.
History and name
The High Shoals Manufacturing Company built a mill here in 1846; it burned in 1928, and its ruins and mill races survive in a historic district listed on the National Register. The settlement takes its name from the rapids and falls on the river.
Nearby
Watson Shoals is about 28.6 miles away, Kilgore Falls about 30.2 miles and Lazy Falls about 35.6 miles.
Distances are straight-line.