Texas summer camps across the state have closed or scaled back operations after Texas imposed new regulations on youth camps in response to deadly Hill Country flooding, according to camp operators and state officials. One of the most prominent losses is Camp Oak Haven, which served about 100 children from nearby low-income and rural communities. Orr Family Ministries sold the 12-acre property after it determined it could not meet the state’s sweeping requirements, a development camp leaders said will have lasting effects for families who rely on local summer programming.
Cynthia Royal, the Orr Family Ministries board president, said the closure is “sad” and described uncertainty about where children and families will go next. Royal said she is “terrified” for the “dent” in rural communities where kids and parents do not have “huge incomes” for longer-distance “mega camp” options. She said Camp Oak Haven’s model—created for children who worshipped by a fire pit and learned Bible stories while playing and swimming on site—won’t be replaced in the same place.
The rules were enacted after the July 4 Hill Country floods that killed 27 children and counselors at Camp Mystic, Texas. Lawmakers required youth camps to implement new safety measures, including weather warning systems and a fiber-optic internet capability, along with higher licensing fees and other compliance costs. Camp directors said the regulatory changes have reshaped how camps operate, including reducing hours or scaling back programs, sometimes to avoid higher licensing fees or to prevent needing a broader set of requirements.
Royal said Texas did not tailor the regulations to camp types or locations. She criticized what she called “a blanket rule for all camps across the entire state without taking realistic things into consideration,” including questions such as “How far away from water are you?” and “How urban are you? How rural are you?” Royal said she and other camp operators had warned the rules would have consequences for closures.
The state has since moved to ease one major requirement. In April, a group of 19 camps sued Texas, arguing that the fiber-optic internet requirement did not make their properties safer, violated the Texas Constitution and state law on property rights, and could prevent them from opening. Texas Department of State Health Services later announced an agreement with those operators, dropping the fiber-optic internet requirement for now. Under the agreement, camps can be licensed this summer if they can provide at least two ways to access broadband internet service and meet other safety requirements.
Even with the fiber-optic reprieve for this summer, camp directors said the broader compliance package remains difficult to absorb. They cited high licensing fees, an inspection backlog, emergency plan rewrites, and requirements that may force structural changes at camps located in floodplains. The state also does not track how many camps have closed since the new requirements took effect, but camp advocates said a comparison of active camps on a December roster and a more recent roster updated Friday found that 66 camps no longer appear.
For some families, the lack of nearby options may be as significant as the regulatory paperwork. Chris Stephens, a minister at Ave. G Church of Christ in Temple, said he brought his youth groups and his four daughters to Camp Oak Haven for several summers. Stephens said his children will not attend this summer and that it is likely the roughly 100 other campers who previously went to the camp will also be unable to find substitutes close enough or affordable enough, particularly for families that rely on local camps so parents can work.
Stephens said his options are limited by distance and by the decline of other programs since the COVID-19 pandemic. He said he received letters about camps in Louisiana and Arkansas, but “we are a small church, and we can’t afford to send our youth that far away,” and he said vacation Bible school offers a short, one-day alternative rather than a full camp experience. He said the fiber-optic requirement was the “downfall” for Camp Oak Haven because officials contacted internet providers and were told it was too remote for fiber installation.
Camp directors also pointed to the financial and operational implications of the fiber requirement nationwide within Texas’ camp sector. A preliminary study by the Christian Camps and Conference Association found that at least 173 Texas camps lack fiber access. Royal said that even where camps can find alternatives, the cost may be prohibitive, citing that some camps faced quotes for large upfront expenses and ongoing monthly fees and that “other camps” were spending “over $100,000 to get fiber optics to just stay afloat.”
Urban day camps also face strain under the regulations, camp officials said, even though lawmakers wrote the rules with overnight camps—particularly those in rural areas—in mind. Mike McDonell, president of Kidventure, said requirements such as rooftop exits for cabin structures and flood emergency plans are not aligned with how his organization’s day camps have operated for decades. Other directors said some camps in major metro areas serve many inner-city and low-income children with smaller budgets, and they argued that renewal fee increases function like a “massive tax” on ministries and programs.
Texas Department of State Health Services spokesperson Lara Anton said some camps are not subject to DSHS youth camp licensing if they offer only one or no specialized activities. Some camp directors said that because state licensing can be required for camps offering specialized activities such as archery, riflery and horseback riding, some urban programs are changing what they offer so they do not meet the youth-camp definition and therefore do not need licenses or related fees.
As lawmakers prepare for the next legislative session, camp operators said they want safety standards to incorporate camp-by-camp realities rather than applying uniform requirements regardless of remoteness, urban layout, or distance to water. Royal said she is hopeful that legislators will take feedback seriously, and Eddie Walker, executive director of Mt. Lebanon Camp and Retreat in Cedar Hill, compared the process to passing aviation laws without pilot input, saying “Riding on the plane doesn’t qualify them to understand the intricacies of what they do.” Even with the fiber-optic internet requirement paused for now, directors said rural camps still face high licensing fees, inspection backlogs, and uncertainty about whether the state will drop additional burdens next year.