Camp Mystic
Camp Mystic is a private non-denominational Christian girls' summer camp in unincorporated Kerr County, Texas, US. It is set on a campus consisting of two neighboring sites southwest of Hunt, near the confluence of the South Fork Guadalupe River and Cypress Creek. The camp serves girls aged eight to seventeen, and is a member of the Camping Association for Mutual Progress.
The camp suffered heavy damage from the unprecedented July 2025 Central Texas floods, with 27 confirmed fatalities.
History
The camp was founded in 1926 by E. J. Stewart, under the name Stewart's Camp for Girls. It offered a single eight-week session each summer. In July 1932, the camp suffered a flash flood which washed away several cabins, but no fatalities were reported. In 1937, the camp was purchased by the Stacy family, who have maintained ownership ever since. Since 1939, the camp has been an all-girls camp. By 1934 and until at least June 1942, the camp hosted a ten-day Aquatic School led by the Red Cross. Although the camp is Christian, some Jewish Texans also sent their children there, as there were no Jewish summer camps in the area in the 1930s.The camp paused operations during World War II from 1943 to 1945, when it functioned as a rest and relaxation site for soldiers, offering two six-week sessions. Following the war, the camp began offering two sessions each summer.
Inez and Frank Harrison, affectionately called "Iney and Frank," were brought to Mystic in December 1948 by then-owner Agnes "Ag" Stacy. They were directors of Mystic from 1948 until their retirement in 1987.
The camp was impacted by flooding from the Guadalupe River in 1978, with a program director later recounting hauling over 100 campers in station wagons to higher ground with other staff in the dead of night. The camp also faced flooding again in 1984. None of the camper's sleeping cabins took on water in either of these floods, which were considered 100-year flood events.
The camp offered two camp sessions a year until 1983, when a third session was added. By 1996, a session at Camp Mystic cost. In 2011, a 30-day session cost.
In the late 2000s and early 2010s, camp leadership underwent a protracted family feud. As of 2025, the camp was owned by Dick and Tweety Eastland.
In the 2010s, the camp expanded from their original Guadalupe site to the new Cypress Lake site. This expansion included the construction of cabins, a dining hall, a chapel, and an archery range for the new site.
2025 flooding
The camp was hosting 750 campers at the beginning of July 2025. Per state regulations, the camp had emergency plans "in case of a disaster", which were approved by officials from the Texas Department of State Health Services on July 2. However, as Texas does not approve or keep copies of emergency plans, and camps are only required to show they have one in place, the plan steps are unclear as of July 9. The camp was not accredited by the American Camp Association, which recommends that campers and staff members are trained how to respond to natural disasters.Between 2011 and 2020, FEMA re-shaped its Special Flood Hazard Area to exclude 30 camp buildings following appeals from the camp, possibly due to insurance or increased regulation concerns. The Special Flood Hazard Area marks the region most at risk for once-in-a-century floods. In 2025, at least 12 camp structures were considered to be within the Special Flood Hazard Area, with more being partially within the area.
Flooding
At 1:18 p.m. CDT on July 3, 2025, the National Weather Service office in San Antonio, Texas, issued a flood watch for Kerr County and other areas that would later be impacted by severe flooding. At about 4:00a.m.CDT on July 4, flash flooding began in Kerr County; officials were unable to issue evacuation orders due to the speed of events. The Guadalupe River rose in about 45 minutes. Later, it was reported that camp director Dick Eastland had received the flash flood warning at 1:14 am, but took until 2:30 am, over an hour later, to begin evacuations. By then, the river was already rising rapidly.When the Guadalupe campsite flooded, campers took shelter in cabins, a recreation hall, and the tops of hills. The Cypress Lake site of the camp also experienced flooding, which was not intense enough to flood cabins but there did result in property damage, including a damaged waterfront. By dawn, the campers at the Guadalupe site and the Cypress lake site had no access to food, running water, or power. Rescue efforts were under way by the afternoon of July 4, with campers taken to an elementary school in Ingram being used as a reunification center.
, 27 campers and counselors were known to have died in the flooding, Dick Eastland was among the dead; his family posted on social media that he had died while trying to evacuate campers.
The camp's infrastructure was heavily damaged, and the Guadalupe site was reported as being "completely in ruin".
After the flood, Kerr County commissioned an independent hydrology study from Waterway Engineering. It confirmed that this was a 1,000-year flood event.
Aftermath and legal proceedings
In September 2025, Camp Mystic announced in an email that they would be partially reopening for the summer of 2026 at Camp Mystic Cypress Lakes. In early November 2025, the families of six children and the two counselors killed in the flooding filed two lawsuits against the camp's owners and others, claiming negligence. In the suit, the families allege that despite the camp being in a known high-risk flood zone, campers were told to stay in their cabins, the camp had not adopted a legally required evacuation plan, and valued equipment over evacuation, causing a "self-created" disaster. Individual lawsuits were filed separately by the families of two other deceased campers. Camp Mystic issued two statements, one from the camp and one from its lawyers, shortly after the suits were filed, offering prayers for the family and stating that there had been no prior warning and the flood was completely unexpected.Kerrville Hero Award - refers to the recognition given to the late Richard "Dick" Eastland and his wife, "Tweety" Eastland, in Kerrville, Texas.
Richard Eastland, the long-time owner and director of Camp Mystic for Girls, has been widely hailed as a hero for his actions during the devastating July 2025 flash floods in the Texas Hill Country. He died while attempting to evacuate and save campers as the Guadalupe River rose rapidly.
Citizen of the Year Award: In November 2025, Eastland and his wife, "Tweety" were honored with the Citizen of the Year Award by a local organization in Kerrville for their leadership and the community's resilience during the flood crisis.
Heroic Actions: According to witnesses and family members, he rushed to the riverside cabins to help the girls when the floodwaters hit, saving many lives before being swept away himself.
Legacy: Tributes poured in from across the state, with many remembering him as a man of faith, courage, and selflessness who laid down his life for others.
On December 12, 2025, Camp Mystic announced that they would install a flood warning system on camp grounds.
Facilities and administration
The camp is set on about in unincorporated Kerr County, Texas, southwest of the city of Hunt. The campus consists of two neighboring sites near the confluence of the South Fork Guadalupe River and Cypress Creek. The camp serves girls aged eight to seventeen.The camp's recreation hall was built in the 1920s, using lumber from local cypress trees.
As of 2018, the camp had 78 counselors. In early July 2025, the camp had 108 staff.
Activities and traditions
As of 2018, the camp offered three sessions per summer: two 30-day sessions, and a 13-day session in early August.The camp offers a variety of outdoor activities, including archery, canoeing, cheerleading, fishing, horseback riding, lacrosse, and riflery, as well as indoor activities, including cooking, journalism, and "beauty—including classes in politeness training and facials". Upon arrival, campers choose their activities and are given individual schedules. Campers are divided into two teams, the "Kiowa and Tonkawa 'tribes'", who compete through sports and games over the course of each session.
Campers do not have access to electronics and are encouraged to write letters home. Parents are offered a one-way email service to contact their children.
Sundays are "reserved for praise and worship on the waterfront and vespers on Chapel Hill".
Campers are assigned seats in the dining hall, but arrangements are changed every week. Fried chicken is served every Sunday. Blue Bell ice cream is offered for daily dessert after lunch.
The camp maintains ties with the boys' camps Camp Stewart and Camp Vista, and campers visit Mystic for dances and "a program of skits".