Only three summer camps in Texas have been licensed to open this season as operators work to meet new safety requirements enacted after a deadly 2025 flood.
Camp Thurman in Pantego near Dallas, Hidden Falls Ranch in the Panhandle, and Frontier Camp in East Texas are the only facilities approved so far by the Texas Department of State Health Services. About 300 other camps remain in the approval process as the summer season approaches.
The backlog follows sweeping changes to state law passed after catastrophic flooding in the Hill Country in July 2025 that killed 28 campers and staff members, including the director, at Camp Mystic along the Guadalupe River. The camp’s representatives announced on Thursday that they have decided to withdraw the camp’s application for approval for this year out of respect for the grieving families and in consideration for the ongoing investigations into last year’s tragedy.
Under the new rules, camps must submit detailed emergency plans outlining responses to incidents such as fires, floods, and serious injuries. The law also requires camps to install reliable warning and public-address systems, relocate cabins from FEMA-designated floodplains when necessary, provide mandatory safety training, and share emergency plans with families.
The Texas Department of State Health Services now reviews those plans before issuing licenses for both day and overnight camps. Previously, inspectors only verified that a plan existed, not its contents.
State data shows 363 camps are listed on the agency’s active roster as of late April. Of those, three have approved licenses extending through March 2027, while 277 are still listed as “Application Pending,” and others have licenses set to expire in the coming months.
Officials said many applications have been returned for revisions as camps adjust to the stricter requirements. The agency is working with a third-party reviewer, National EMR, to help assess whether plans include required components, though final licensing decisions remain with the state.
The compressed timeline has added pressure. This year’s application window opened February 2, later than usual, to allow for implementation of the new rules.
Camp operators say the changes have created a learning curve. Eddie Walker, executive director of Mt. Lebanon Camp and Conference Center in Cedar Hill, said adjustments include new communication requirements for parents and more detailed safety protocols.
“We will have training when campers arrive,” Walker said, Click2 Houston reported. “Parents will have access to our emergency action plan. If they have questions about camp, they’ll be able to go and see what the plan is.”
Walker said his camp’s plan was returned for revisions, including clarifications about how safety measures would be implemented and how accommodations would be made for campers with disabilities.
The new regulations also include requirements for improved communication systems, such as fiber-optic internet in some cases, which have drawn legal challenges from camps that say the costs are too high, particularly in remote areas.
The slow pace of approvals has created uncertainty for families across Texas who rely on summer camps each year, while state officials say they are increasing the rate of inspections to help camps meet compliance before the season begins.
