Residential Summer Camp in East Texas

Camp Huawni:
Camp Huawni is a co-educational residential summer camp for boys aged 7 to 15 years and girls aged 7 to 16 years, located in Shelby County in East Texas, between the small towns of Timpson and Center. Started in 1965 and still family-owned / operated today, Camp Huawni offers an overnight summer camp for kids and teens in Texas, with outdoor activities included, as well as sports, adventure and fun. Camp Huawni has a total of four sessions, including 2 two-week sessions and 2 one-week sessions, and limits each session to 130 campers. Many campers enroll in up to 4 sessions, a total of 6 weeks.

Camp Huawni has been a safe haven for 47 years where children can be themselves and where lifetime friendships begin. Our smaller setting and 3:1 camper to counselor ratio make us unique and allows us to invest purely in relationships that result in true personal growth.

While Camp Huawni is a non-denominational camp, we are based on Christian values and principles. We have prided ourselves over the years on welcoming kids from all walks of faith and denominations, and have seen these kids blossom in their own faith while attending Camp Huawni.

Our Beliefs:
Camp Huawni believes in fun, meaningful relationships, being outdoors, personal growth and tradition.

We offer a co-educational residential (overnight) summer camp for kids and teens aged 7-16 years:

- Camp Huawni enrolls 130 campers in each of four summer camp sessions, two sessions of 2-week duration and two sessions lasting 1-week.
- The ratio of campers (girls to boys) is approximately 60% to 40%.
- Girls’ camp is located on the south campus and boys’ camp is located on the north campus.
- Our summer camp is based on Christian principles and values modeled by the Camp Huawni staff.
- The daily schedule is a balanced combination of outdoor activities and sports events.
- During regular activity days, campers are divided by age into small activity groups and are scheduled into three activity periods in the morning and three in the afternoon, with campers participating in a variety of activities.

Camp Location:
Based in Shelby County in East Texas, between Timpson and Center, Camp Huawni is about 3.5 hours from Dallas, and approximately 3 hours from the Houston area. From Austin, it takes about 5.5 hours to drive to camp and about 6.5 hours from San Antonio. Campers may fly into Gregg County airport (GGG) near Longview or Shreveport, Louisiana (SHV), which is only about 80 miles away.

The campsite is hidden in the piney woods on about 60 acres of land that has been in the Adams family for three generations. The girls camp is located on the South campus and the boys camp is located on the North campus. Campers lodge at Camp Huawni in open-air, naturally cooled cabins.

Sleeping is in spacious double bunk beds and 8 to 14 campers are assigned to each cabin, and there are usually 3-5 counselors that stay with campers in each cabin.

Our History:
Camp Huawni is the dream-come-true of Earl and Retha Adams, two lifelong Texas educators who invested their lives in the encouragement of youth. The summer camp they founded in 1965 where 'kids could just be kids,' is a tangible legacy of their Christian faith and their love for kids. That tradition continues today as Camp Huawni remains one of the top youth summer camps in Texas while being operated by Earl and Retha's sons, Mike and Pat Adams, along with their families.

"Camp has changed my life in so many positive ways. I have learned about life and the joy of outdoors, but most meaningful to me, friendship. Camp is my second home because the people I know there are my second family. We get to know each other better in two weeks than we get to know our school friends in an entire year. The fact that we can all come here and be ourselves, our most raw sense of selves, and accept and love each other is a blessing. I am so thankful for Camp Huawni, for the counselors that I have grown to love, and for the friends that will always be in my heart."
- Morgan, Houston, TX.

"The staff, owners, and directors at Huawni set up this unmatched summer experience in a way that allows each camper to grow immeasurably. None of the growth that takes place is ever forced but instead, happens organically under those pine trees. The ways I grew personally are directly related to the investment made into my life from older campers, counselors, directors and owners. Experiencing Huawni for 15 summers gave me confidence in myself and in my friends. Come to think of it, I'm not under those pine trees now and I am still growing and benefiting from those tribe members who poured their summers into mine."
- Christy, Fort Worth, TX.