Camp Doublecreek is family owned and operated by third generation Owner and Director Dan Neal and his wife, Andrea Neal. His director team includes Administrative Director Kim Palk, Assistant Director Rachel Chuey and Programming Director Joe Ray Griffin.
"It all started in 1971 by Uncle Carter and Aunt Trudy Lester. She was a teacher and he was a businessman. They cashed out their retirement when he was going to have to travel half the year," Neal said. "That was not going to work for him. So he cashed it out, bought 110 acres in Round Rock, and they started a day camp because they saw the need for that in the community."
The Lesters introduced the New England model of camp to the Austin area, where children are picked up daily by bus and taken to camp.
"One thing that starts the day off, that initiates the camp experience and gets campers moving in the right direction, is being able to ride the bus into camp. Because it's not a school bus, we call it the singing bus," Neal said. "The whole point of the bus is to make friends and learn a song. We have over 50 camp songs that we sing.”
Although the camp is planning to open a new site, Camp Doublecreek has kept true to its roots over the years.
"Things haven't changed at the camp. We are just at a new site," Neal said. "It's hurting us that we can't offer the winter or spring break session this year, but once we get this built out, there will be no limits on what we can do."
Summer 2023 will mark the grand opening of the new camp location in Pflugerville, which will offer winter, spring break and summer week-long sessions.
Children ages 4-14 have access to a variety of activities at Camp Doublecreek, including a swimming pool, horseback riding and all kinds of sports.
"The activity base is where we have been able to maintain and grow—camper culture, family culture—all those things from the beginning to today. All that my grandparents started, they then passed it to my cousin and now to me," Neal said.
The new location in Pflugerville will allow the camp to expand and offer new activities, including rope activities, ziplines and also bring back fishing, which was an activity offered when Camp Doublecreek first opened.
"We've got lots of activities at camp. Horses are a big one. If a camper comes for their first three days of camp, they will remember their horses' name before they'll remember their counselors' name," Neal said. "We will have age appropriate activities for all our campers and an obstacle course that no other camp offers."
Several staff members have been at the camp for more than 50 years and have the skills and knowledge to provide activities for campers to enrich their lives.
"We do a lot of activities around sports that will help develop campers and help them try something new. The activities are to help them grow in that emotional, mental and physical space," Neal said. "As they try these new things ... as they see something maybe they're good at, they engage with other campers and grow with their interpersonal skills and creativity."
Camp Doublecreek was founded with the motto that every camper goes home knowing someone believes in them, which still holds true today over 50 years later.
"Camp is designed to be this bubble of safety and fun but inside this bubble, they are getting, we call it PIC, which is problem-solving, interpersonal skills and creativity," Neal said. "If they leave at the end of the day knowing that there are people that believe in them, those three things organically happen every day and that's really the enriching part of camp."
The leadership team at Camp Doublecreek noticed a lack of camp alumni returning due to the age gap, which led to the development of a leadership training program.
"We did a lot of research on training and leadership programs and this is really Assistant Director Rachel Chuey's baby. One of the best programs we do at camp is our C.I.T. program for 14 to 16-year-olds. Camp Doublecreek for the last 51 years has been an enriching experience with opportunities for campers like this," Neal said. "We've been able to grow with Austin over that time. Now we have an opportunity to be at a new camp location with the same programming, same leadership team, same core values and really offer some different variety of activities."
To learn more about Camp Doublecreek, visit their website or call 512-255-3661 for more information.
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