Only three Texas summer camps have received licenses to operate

FILE – A building at Camp Mystic is reflected in water after a flash flood swept through the area, on July 7, 2025, in Hunt, Texas. (AP Photo/Eli Hartman, File)

Eli Hartman/AP

Only three Texas summer camps have received licenses to operate this summer, as camps race to navigate a slate of strict new laws enacted following last summer’s catastrophic Hill Country floods.

The deadline is nearing, with camps across the state scheduled to open in one month. Camp leaders said they are growing anxious about the tight timeline but remain optimistic the licensing process will be completed in time.

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“Everyone wants camps to open, and everyone wants safe camps,” said Eddie Walker, executive director of Mt. Lebanon Camp in Cedar Hill, one of the largest faith-based camps in the state. “But the process is challenging this year.”

State lawmakers last year passed a flurry of laws following the July flood that killed 27 children and counselors at Camp Mystic, an all-girls’ camp in Hill Country. Parents of the girls, who became known as “Heaven’s 27,” pushed for reforms that passed with overwhelming bipartisan support.

Under the new laws, camps are required to install emergency warning and public address systems, provide mandatory safety training to campers and distribute emergency plans to families. Some must build new cabins and move existing cabins out of dangerous floodplains, as designated by Federal Emergency Management Agency maps. 

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Camps must outline safety and compliance details in thorough emergency plans. Unlike previous years, camps are now required to submit those plans to the Department of State Health Services, which is responsible for issuing licenses to both day and overnight camps.

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But the approval process for those plans has been cumbersome and chaotic, camp leaders say. 

Texas state Rep. Wes Virdell, who represents Kerr County, which assumed the brunt of flood devastation, said he has heard from numerous camps struggling to meet the state’s new requirements. Like other critics, Virdell worried the laws would financially cripple decades-old camps and create an unrealistic timeline.

“Ultimately, legislators passed a sloppy bill that is now causing massive trouble for camps across Texas,” said Virdell, a Republican. “This was an egregious overreach by lawmakers.”

Related: Inside a Dallas workshop, volunteers help rebuild Hill Country summer camp

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A condensed time frame is at least partially to blame for the troubles. Previously, camps renewed their licenses each year on a rolling basis. All camps are now required to submit applications between Jan. 1 and March 31. This year, the application portal did not open until Feb. 2 to allow the adoption of the new rules, said Lara Anton, a spokeswoman for the state health agency. 

That has left camps scrambling. Three camps — Camp Thurman in Pantego, Hidden Falls Ranch in the Panhandle and Frontier Camp in East Texas — are licensed. Roughly 300 others are still working to get licenses.

“Camps have expended massive resources and effort to be ready,” said Walker, who is also president of the Christian Camp and Conference Association, which works with about 90 camps across Texas. “But the state is lagging in its response.”

To help expedite the process, the state health agency will begin conducting preliminary onsite inspections while camps work to bring their emergency plans into compliance, Anton said. 

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Camp Mystic is among the camps trying to obtain its license. The camp plans to reopen this summer, although not in the same area where the girls died, a decision that has prompted an outcry from many, including families of the girls who were killed.

Last week, the camp received an 11-page deficiency letter from the state in response to its emergency plan, drawing some criticism. 

Related: Camp Mystic warned safety plan falls short as it seeks to reopen

Camp Mystic was not an outlier, though. All 174 camps that submitted emergency plans as of last week received deficiency letters, Anton said.

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A red heart with “Mystic” sign is seen by the Guadalupe River, the other side of Camp Mystic, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025, in Hunt.

Chitose Suzuki/Staff Photographer

Sticking points have included issues as small as word choice, said Paul Biles, executive director of Tejas Camp and Retreat in Giddings, a 45-year-old camp between Austin and Houston where campers swim, rock climb, zip line and play field games.

For example, deficiency letters have asked camps to add or delete as little as a single word before resubmitting, camp leaders say. Other letters have requested specifics that do not exist: During a drowning response, which lifeguard administers CPR and which lifeguard calls 911? One camp in Glen Rose received an eight-page deficiency notice. After revising, it received a new eight-page deficiency letter with different input.

“It’s a new process that all of us on both sides are trying to figure out,” Biles said. “Every single camp is different with different needs, and there has been a lot of back and forth.”

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Nearly 20 camps have sued to block a new law that requires them to install end-to-end fiber optic networks, arguing it does not make their properties safer, violates state law and would cost millions of dollars. Cell service in many of these areas is already spotty.

Last year’s floods killed some 140 people across the Hill Country. Texas lawmakers plan to meet for two days of hearings this week to examine Camp Mystic’s response to the flood. They toured the camp last week.

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Camps are committed to safety, Walker said, but he wants to ensure Texas children have access to summer camps.

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“Summer camp is where kids develop a love of nature and the ability to make friends, practice leaving home and developing courage,” he said. “It’s not a vacation for kids. It’s where we instill character.”

Related: Judge orders Camp Mystic not to alter or demolish cabins where girls died