The Texas Department of State Health approved Camp Deer Run’s youth camp license on May 6th, 2026. For more information about camper safety, click here.
The Texas Department of State Health approved Camp Deer Run’s youth camp license on May 6th, 2026. For more information about camper safety, click here.
In a few short days every summer, our campers and staff create lasting fun, friendships, and faith that are
built to last.
Memories that last, friends that last, and a faith that lasts an eternity.
In this modern world, that’s worth protecting.
While we have worked together for almost 70 years to build all of those things, we’ve relied on facilities that weren’t built to last.
But over the last 20 years, Camp Deer Run has been on a mission to change that.
2007 – New Cabins
Began a 20-year effort to replace outdated, undersized, and deteriorating cabins with simple and rustic, but uniform, safe, and comfortable cabins throughout Camp.
2008 – New Pool
Replaced the original Camp pool with a bigger, safer, more sustainable pool that would accommodate more campers and last well into the future.
2016 – Land
As land adjacent to Camp’s property has become available, we’ve purchased several lots to prevent development or agricultural use from encroaching on the isolated, natural environment at the core of the Deer Run Experience.
2018 – Mess Hall
The Simply Changing Lives campaign raised $2 million to build a new Mess Hall that could accommodate our growing number of campers. The previous building required campers to alternate sitting inside and outside to eat, because it was just too small!
2023 – Final Cabins Completed
In 2023 the built the final remaining cabins to finish the goal of creating 20 uniform cabins that preserve the rustic experience of Camp while also providing a safe and comfortable place for our campers and staff to live for the summer!
2025 – The Road
The old asphalt road into Camp was in disrepair for years. In 2025, we started work to replace the asphalt road with an engineered paved cement road into Camp that will last for generations.
2026/2027 – Rebuild Boys’ Bathhouse
The boys’ bathhouse, built from hard-to-clean materials and significantly undersized for our current number of campers, is failing. The foundation is badly cracked and no longer feasible to repair. We will build a new, higher-capacity, easy-to-clean, durable, and sanitary bathhouse.
2027/2028 – Rebuild Girls’ Bathhouse
The girls’ bathhouse has the same capacity issues, which have forced changes to our daily schedule that negatively impact our Camp program. It is also built from difficult-to-clean materials and has had ongoing and irreparable plumbing issues. The girls’ bathhouse will be replaced as well.
2028/2029 – Nurse’s Station
Our nurse’s station, built by volunteers more than 20 years ago, is not centrally located and is no longer adequate to serve our campers, lacking privacy for both our volunteer nurses and our campers. The old mess hall, which has been used as a gift shop and alternate canteen space, is the perfect central location for a new nurse’s station. The old mess hall building has had drainage and flooding issues that need extensive work to repair, so the building will be gutted and rebuilt as a nurse’s station on one side and a permanent gift shop on the other, with new public restrooms to provide more comfortable and accessible facilities for campers and visitors.
100+ Acre Land Purchase
To continue protecting Camp’s secluded natural environment, we have secured over 100 acres of adjacent land, some which was up for sale for the first time in 60 years, and had been a target for real estate developers. The land was purchased with a long-term mortgage, which we hope to pay off to avoid further interest expense and eliminate debt.
None of these projects were ever about changing Camp. The traditions, the stories, the camaraderie, the creativity, the creek. These are the things that unite every Deer Runner from every era. These are the foundations that every fond memory, every friendship, every changed life at Camp is built on.
This project is about preserving these things, not changing them. It’s about making sure that Camp Deer Run is, both spiritually and physically,
