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Lone Star Expeditions

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Summer Address:

   Groveton, Texas, USA
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Lone Star Expeditions is set in the forests of deep East Texas, we orient families and guide teenagers toward healthy relationships and personal enrichment.  Located in the Davy Crockett National forest near Groveton, Texas, we utilize a primitive skill teaching modality, group dynamics facilitation, experiential and academic curriculums, and in-depth Master’s-level counseling to effect change within our students. We provide an intervention and treatment assessment program for at-risk teens from across the U.S. Most students coming to LSE display self-defeating behaviors and destructive decision-making patterns, which manifest as substance abuse problems, difficulty in school, deteriorating personal relationships, a lack of personal care, angry and oppositional behavior, and a general loss of control in their lives. LSE aims to unearth the gifts and talents that have been buried beneath these unhealthy patterns of behavior. We then aim to provide our students with tools to respond to challenges in a productive, solution-oriented manner by challenging their “old habits” and cultivating a desire for change within each student. LSE is an empowerment program and

our students will walk away at the beginning of a long road of growth, being more self-reliant, able to sustain meaningful relationships, and possessing a stronger personal integrity.


We serve a maximum of 8 students per group. A treatment team consisting of 2 or 3 Field Instructors (1 Head and 1 or 2 Assistants) and a Therapist facilitate the course. Instructors are with the students around the clock. Work shifts run 8 days on and 6 days off. The licensed therapist engages the students in deeper-level counseling and works with their parents. Under the

direction of the therapist, instructors carry out specific, therapeutic outcomes for all students and devise strategies for reaching the intended outcomes in the field. Students progress through the program as evidenced by their investment, responsibility, and integration of the therapeutic work.


Mission Statement
United by a sense of caring, we at Lone Star Expeditions provide a process to positively impact all we encounter.

Camp Type:  Residential
Year Established: 2003
Gender: Coed
Age of Campers: 13 to 17 years old
Cost/Week: $2001.00 or more/wk
Religious Affiliation: None
Camp Owner(s): Aspen Education Group
Camp Director(s): Melvin Cates
Nearest Large City: Houston, TX
Off Season Rental: No
Accreditations ?
NATWC  Licensed treatment program
Camp Focus:
Adventure Camps: Hiking
Adventure Camps: Wilderness
Special Programs: Behavioral Correction
Special Programs: Emotional Problems
Adventure Activities:
  •  Backpacking
  •  Hiking
  •  Primitive Skills
  •  Ropes Course
  •  Survival Skills
  •  Wilderness

Academic Activities:
  •  Science


Additional Activities:
Flint & Steel Fires, Map & Compass, Leave No Trace, Leadership Skills, Leather Working

Rolling admissions throughout the year.