OAN Staff Cory Hawkins
1:28 PM – Wednesday, December 3, 2025
Camp Mystic owners have announced plans to partially reopen for the 2026 season, operating exclusively at their separate, undamaged Cypress Lake property. The camp will offer 10-day sessions running from May 30th to August 9, 2026.
The original Guadalupe River campus, which suffered extensive flood damage, will remain closed throughout 2026 as the organization evaluates long-term reconstruction options.
This follows after fatal floods swept through the camp site on July 4th this year, killing 25 campers and 2 staff members. This group is widely referred to as “Heaven’s 27.” In addition to the “Heaven’s 27,” the camp’s longtime executive director and owner, Richard “Dick” Eastland, also died while attempting to rescue campers. Therefore, the total number of Camp Mystic deaths is 28.
The all-girls camp reportedly sent out their newsletter on Tuesday informing parents of their preparations for next summer’s event at their all-new Cypress Lake location.
The new location is completely independent from the older Guadalupe River camp, with a “separate entrance, waterfront, dining hall, office, pavilion, infirmary, playing fields, archery range, stables, chapel, and cabins,” according to their website.
The email emphasizes that the new location is on a different body of water, with all cabins well above the 100-year floodplain. They plan to offer tours of the camp starting in April 2026.
“Our hope is that someday we will have the ability to once again utilize both camp facilities to allow for longer sessions.”
The camp reportedly installed four new flood monitors, higher-capacity generators, and it plans on providing two-way radios enabled with NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) weather alerts to campers. The camp’s internet is also backed up with satellite internet. However, the camp disallows phone usage, and cell service is reportedly extremely inconsistent.
The overall purpose is to “maintain communication” with parents and emergency responders in the event of a future emergency, such as the one that transpired back in July. Nonetheless, a camp evacuation plan and details of an existing plan is absent from the email.
A lawsuit was filed early November after families of five campers claimed Camp Mystic had valued money over safely.
“Today, campers Margaret Bellows, Lila Bonner, Molly DeWitt, Lainey Landry , and Blakely McCrory should be third graders, and counselors Chloe and Katherine should be freshmen at the University of Texas,” the lawsuit states. “They all are gone.”
According to the complaint, when early signs of flooding appeared, camp owners instructed groundskeepers to spend more than an hour securing equipment rather than immediately evacuating the young campers. As a result, two cabins — the Bubble Inn and the Twins — were never evacuated, even after other campers had been moved to higher ground about 300 feet away.
Distraught families also allege that the organization knowingly placed camps in flood-prone areas and failed to develop adequate safety or evacuation plans.
“We recognize that returning to Camp Mystic carries both hope and heartache,” the camp said in the email to parents. “For many of your daughters, this return is not simple, but it is a courageous step in their healing journey.”
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