Hunt, Texas

What It's Known For

Hunt is known for three things: the forks of the Guadalupe, a century of summer camps, and Crider's Rodeo and Dancehall. The camps are a social institution — generations of Texas families have sent their children here — but they are private operations and not public attractions. Crider's is the opposite: open to anyone with a few dollars on a Saturday night, Memorial Day through Labor Day, since 1925. The Hunt Store, a general store on TX-39 since 1946, was destroyed in the July 2025 flood. It is being rebuilt in phases and is not open. Beyond these two, Hunt has no public-facing businesses.

History and Heritage

The area was settled in the 1850s. The community was named for a local family. A post office operated intermittently from the 1880s. Hunt never incorporated and never grew beyond a crossroads — a store, a post office, a school, a few ranches. The 1880 census recorded fewer than fifty residents. By 1940, the number was roughly the same. What it had was the river: cold, clear, spring-fed water running through limestone canyon country at 1,700 feet of elevation.

The camp tradition began in the early twentieth century. By the 1920s and 1930s, the combination of clean water, mild summers (by Texas standards), and isolation from cities made the upper Guadalupe valley attractive for youth camps. That tradition has continued for more than a century. It is the defining social fact of Hunt — but the camps are private, and this guide does not list them as points of interest.

Crider's Rodeo and Dancehall started in 1925 as a holiday rodeo, dance, and barbecue organized by Walter and Audrey Crider for the Hunt School PTA. By the late 1940s it was running weekly through the summer. The format has not changed much: rodeo at 8 PM, live music and dancing after, Saturday nights from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day. The dance floor is open-air, set on the south fork of the Guadalupe under live oaks. Willie Nelson has played there. It bills itself as the oldest open-air dancehall in Texas. Crider's has weathered closures and reopenings over the decades. Confirm current status, dates, and prices before you go. Confirm dates and prices before you go.

The Land and the River

Hunt sits at the confluence of the North Fork and South Fork of the Guadalupe. The North Fork runs down from the high plateau near the headwaters; the South Fork comes in from the west. Below Hunt, the combined river flows east toward Ingram and Kerrville.

TX-39 follows the river west from Ingram through Hunt and beyond. The road crosses the river and its tributaries on multiple low-water crossings — concrete slabs that sit at river level and go underwater when the water rises. These crossings are the first things to flood and the last to clear.

This is Flash Flood Alley. The upper Guadalupe drains steep, rocky, shallow-soil terrain. The river can rise from ankle-deep to impassable in less than an hour. Clear sky overhead means nothing when it is raining twenty miles upstream. If you are staying near the river, know your high ground before dark. Keep a weather radio. Sign up for Kerr County CodeRED alerts. Check USGS gauge 08165500 (Guadalupe at Hunt) or 08165300 (North Fork near Hunt) before making plans that depend on the river.

Why It Matters

Hunt is a place defined by its river and by a century of people sending their children there in summer. It is not a tourist town. There is one store, one dancehall, and a lot of private land. The river is the reason anyone is here, and the river is the thing that demands respect. ## The Camp Tradition (Social History)

Hunt's identity as camp country dates to the 1920s. The upper Guadalupe offered what urban Texas could not: clean running water, shade, elevation (1,700 feet keeps summer nights ten degrees cooler than San Antonio), and distance from distraction. Families from Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, and Austin began sending children to summer camps along the river. By mid-century, the tradition was multigenerational — grandparents who had attended as children sent their own grandchildren to the same programs.

The camps are private operations on private land. They employ local residents, purchase supplies in Kerrville, and contribute to the county's economy — but they are not public attractions, and this guide does not list them individually. What matters for understanding Hunt is that the camp tradition shaped the community's character: the population swells in summer, the store gets busier, the road carries more traffic, and then September comes and the valley goes quiet again. That seasonal rhythm has defined Hunt for a hundred years.

The Forks

The North Fork of the Guadalupe rises on the Edwards Plateau northwest of Hunt, fed by springs and seasonal runoff from ranch country. The South Fork comes in from the west, draining the high terrain toward the Divide. They meet just east of Hunt, and from that confluence the Guadalupe flows as a single river toward Ingram, Kerrville, Center Point, Comfort, and eventually the Gulf.

The forks are the reason Hunt exists where it does. Two rivers meeting means water, and water in the Hill Country means everything — settlement, agriculture, camps, recreation, and danger. The combined flow below Hunt is what feeds the Guadalupe through Kerrville and beyond.

If you come to Hunt, you come for Crider's on a Saturday night, or for the quiet of the upper Guadalupe, or because someone in your family went to camp here fifty years ago and you want to see what it looks like now.

Where to Stay

There are no hotels in Hunt. Lodging options are vacation rentals along the river (many listed on Backroads and Backroads), guest ranches in the surrounding area, and the occasional B&B. Most visitors who stay overnight are either attending a camp-related event or renting a river house for a weekend. Kerrville (15 miles east) has chain hotels and the Inn of the Hills for those who prefer conventional lodging.

The Road

TX-39 west of Ingram is the road to Hunt, and it deserves mention on its own terms. It follows the Guadalupe through increasingly narrow canyon country — live oaks arching over the road, limestone bluffs rising on both sides, the river appearing and disappearing through the trees. The low-water crossings are marked but not gated. When the river is up, the road is impassable at multiple points. There is no alternate route. If you are west of a flooded crossing, you stay west until the water goes down.

Cell service is unreliable on TX-39. Dead zones are common. If you are staying in Hunt, download maps and directions before you leave Kerrville. Do not rely on real-time navigation.