Camp For All is expanding its barrier-free operations with a new $61.3 million site in Chappell Hill, Texas, designed to give thousands more children and adults with disabilities, complex medical conditions and special needs access to traditional outdoor activities.
The second Camp For All facility is due to open in summer 2027 on nearly 380 acres donated by the Charles Jago Elder Foundation. The organisation says the development will eventually allow it to serve up to 18,000 campers a year across its sites in Chappell Hill and Burton.
Plans include 20 accessible cabins, a 400-seat dining hall with an indoor ropes course, a round-the-clock health centre, an amphitheatre and specially designed areas for swimming and other water-based activities.
Wide paths and ramps will replace conventional walkways and steps, while the cabins will include accessible bathrooms and adult-sized changing tables. The site will also feature adapted facilities for horse riding, archery, canoeing, fishing, climbing and zip-lining.
Camp For All Chappell Hill aims to remove barriers
Camp For All was founded in 1993 and opened its first site in Burton in 1998. It works with more than 65 partner organisations, which bring campers, counsellors and specialist medical teams to the facility for tailored sessions.
The organisation recently marked its 200,000th camper, having welcomed children and adults from across Texas and beyond. Its existing Burton site currently serves nearly 9,000 campers and families each year.
Emily Turner, a Camp For All recruitment specialist who attended the camp after having a leg amputated following an osteosarcoma diagnosis, said the experience had transformed her life.
“Three months after my amputation, I went to camp, which is crazy, but it ended up changing my world completely,” she said. Turner is now helping to recruit and train additional staff ahead of the expansion.
Camp director Allen McBride said the new site would allow more families to take part in activities such as horseback riding, zip-lining, canoeing and fishing.
“We’re not focused on what campers can’t do, but on what they can do,” he said.
The project is being funded through Camp For All’s Blazing New Trails capital campaign. The charity says approximately five per cent of its $61.3 million target remains to be raised, with further funding needed for construction, programming, staffing and the long-term running costs of both sites.
