Camp Mystic said Thursday it has withdrawn its application for a 2026 summer camp license and will not reopen this season, camp representatives said in a news release.
The decision follows the first public hearing about last summer’s Fourth of July floods that killed more than 100 people across the Hill Country, including 27 girls at Camp Mystic. Camp owners had planned to reopen in late May, using only areas of the property that did not flood and expecting nearly 900 attendees. Those plans angered victims’ families, and some state officials urged regulators to deny or delay the camp’s license renewal, which was under review by the Texas Department of State Health Services.
In their statement, Camp Mystic said the withdrawal was made out of respect for grieving families and in hopes it would remove any doubt that the operators had not acknowledged concerns raised during testimony. The operators extended condolences and expressed love for each camper who died in the floods.
“Twenty-eight precious lives were lost. We recognize that no statement and no decision can undo that loss or ease the burden carried each day by parents, siblings, loved ones, survivors, first responders and our beautiful Kerr County community. We also recognize that over 800 girls want to return to Camp Mystic Cypress Lake this summer. Our special bond with our Camp Mystic families does not change or end with the announcement,” the statement read.
During the second day of state legislative hearings, Texas lawmakers criticized Camp Mystic’s operators — including Dick Eastland (who died in the flooding), Edward Eastland and other family members. Republican State Sen. Charles Perry of Lubbock told the Eastland family they should not be allowed to operate the camp this summer: “Y’all will not be an operator next session, next season if I can have anything to say of that because you just missed it, and it was tragic,” he said.
One of the camp’s co-directors, Edward Eastland, told lawmakers, “The anger at us not being able to keep them safe feels completely reasonable. I have no excuses.” Family members acknowledged that Dick Eastland had insisted the camp’s flood evacuation plan was to shelter in place.