Camp Longhorn vs Camp Huawni: Hill Country or Piney Woods?

Camp Longhorn is one of the best-known names in Texas camping and has been running since 1939. If it is on your shortlist alongside us, the two real differences are geography and price, and both are straightforward to compare because Longhorn publishes its rates — which not every camp does.

This is a comparison written by one of the two camps in it, which you should factor in. What we have tried to do is keep every claim about Camp Longhorn to something published on camplonghorn.com — checked on 24 August 2026 — and be specific about the families we are not the right answer for. Where they publish nothing, we say so instead of filling the gap.

Who Camp Longhorn is

From their own site, as of August 2026: Camp Longhorn was founded in 1939 and operates on Inks Lake in the Texas Hill Country, across branches at Inks Lake, Indian Springs and C3 on Inks Lake. Inks Lake and Indian Springs offer two- and three-week terms; C3 offers one- and two-week terms. They describe over 25 activities plus theme days and events, and state that they are a member of C.A.M.P. and licensed by the Texas Department of State Health Services. We found no ACA accreditation claim. Ages are not specified on the page we read.

Their published tuition, as listed in August 2026: $2,482.70 for one week, $4,798.00 for two weeks, $6,349.70 for three.

Who we are

Camp Huawni is a traditional, coed overnight camp in Timpson, in the East Texas Piney Woods, running since 1965. Campers are 7 to 17. Sessions are one week or two, on 600-plus acres.

The scale is deliberately small: a maximum of 100 girls and 70 boys in a session, about 50 college-aged staff, a 3.2 to 1 camper-to-staff ratio last summer, and cabins holding at most 14 campers with 2 counselors. Cabins are screened wooden buildings with bathhouses just outside — traditional rather than modern.

We are unplugged. No phones, tablets or laptops, for anyone, the whole session.

We are licensed by the Texas Department of State Health Services under the Texas Youth Camp Health and Safety Act. We are not ACA accredited.

Side by side

Longhorn figures read from camplonghorn.com on 24 August 2026; ours are our published Summer 2027 rates, which vary by registration window. Check both sites for current numbers before budgeting.

Where Camp Longhorn is the better choice

If you want a three-week session. We do not offer one. For a camper who has done two weeks and wants more, that is a real gap in our lineup and Longhorn fills it.

If you are in Austin, San Antonio or the western half of the state. Inks Lake is close to you and East Texas is not. Drive time on opening and closing day is a legitimate deciding factor, and we say the same thing on our Austin page.

If multi-generational tradition is the point. A camp running since 1939 with several branches has a depth of alumni culture that is genuinely hard to replicate, and for families with a Longhorn parent or grandparent that history is most of the appeal.

If lake waterfront is what your child pictures. Inks Lake is a large open lake; our waterfront is a private pond and creek on our own property. Different experiences.

Where we are the better choice

On cost, straightforwardly. Comparing published figures, we are meaningfully less expensive at both session lengths, and the gap widens if you register in an early window. We publish the whole ladder on our dates and rates page so you can see exactly what changes and when.

If you want a smaller camp. We cap a session at 170 campers — 100 girls, 70 boys — with cabins of at most 14 and a 3.2 to 1 camper-to-staff ratio last summer. Longhorn's branch structure serves more campers than that.

If you want an explicit phone policy. We are unplugged for the whole session and publish it plainly. If a camp does not state one, ask.

If you are in Houston, Dallas or the eastern half of Texas. Timpson is the shorter trip, and our Houston and Dallas pages have the actual drive.

What we could not verify

Camp Longhorn's site does not specify camper ages, camper-to-counselor ratio, cabin sizes or a phone policy on the pages we read, and tuition may have changed since August 2026.

None of that is a criticism — camps publish different things, and plenty of it is answered on a phone call. But do not take our table as a substitute for asking them directly, and be sceptical of any comparison page, including this one, that appears to know a competitor's numbers precisely.

How to decide

The price gap is real, but do not let it decide alone. Ask both camps for the cabin ratio rather than the property-wide one, ask what happens when a camper struggles in the middle of a long session, and confirm what tuition does not include — transportation, bedding and camp store money are commonly outside it at both camps.

If you are weighing session length rather than camp, what changes in a two-week session is the more useful page. For the full framework, start with our parent's guide, or come and see the place.