Church retreat centers as bug-out locations? (farmland, lake, houses, water)

[GlobalistPotato]

I made this post over on TheOilAge.com , but what I say here applies almost equally.

A little thing popped into my head while I was looking at pictures of Texas's geography and thinking about my upcoming youth group retreat.

Can most retreat locations (that are often used by churches for weekend spiritual retreats) be used as retreat locations for TEOTWAWKI?

I've heard some people on the Texas Preppers' Network suggest places like the Pedernales Falls State Park as a mostly free, temporary bug-out location for periodic events like hurricanes or other temporary events that call for bugging out.
However, State and Nation parks are public property, and I don't think they're suitable as long term or permanent retreat centers for SHTF or TEOTWAWKI.
There's lots of rural retreat centers across Texas that are owned by certain churches or secular organizations as a place for the congregation ( or "flock" if you will) to spend a weekend for spiritual growth and relaxation in a relatively remote location. Of course, the church that owns the retreat center isn't the only user and usually allows other churches to rent out some of the facilities for a period of time.
Blah blah blah, point is: They're privately owned, in a rural location, usually in a pretty place, and usually have on-site access to water, open fields, and woodlands. Most have cabins, common areas, and forms of their own infrastructure. Some are parallel to farms, others are right next to small towns.
Sounds like an ideal retreat location, right?

Here's some examples of retreat centers I've been to with my church. Keep in mind that my church doesn't own any of these locations.

Glen Lake Methodist Camp
1102 NE Barnard St, Glen Rose, TX (about 45 miles from Fort Worth, TX)
Pros: Located right next to a running creek in Central Texas, and about 2 miles from the Brazos River. Located right next to a small town (pop: ~1500) with a healthy local economy and plenty of farm and ranch land surrounding Glen Rose.
Cons: Glen Rose is located only 2 miles from the Comanche Peak Peak NUCLEAR POWER PLANT. Ironically this plant is the main reason for Glen Rose's healthy economy. Hey, maybe if the Feds are nice, they'll supply us with electricity after SHTF. In addition, Glen Rose may be a bit too close to Fort Worth and Dallas for most doomers to be comfortable with. However, it's really kinda out-of-the-way in regards to driving around Texas.

Pine Cover Shores/Christian Camp
17152 Pop McKenzie Rd
Flint, Texas 75762 (about ~15 miles outside of Tyler TX and about 100 miles from Dallas)
Pros: Located in the Piney Woods of Texas, right next to a giant man-made lake. Plenty of water and woodlands mixed with farms. Really, there's a lot of small farms out there near Tyler. Tyler (pop: ~100,000) has a fairly healthy local economy, thanks to being home to the East Texas Medical Center and the headquarters of a grocery company.
Cons: Being next to a lake also poses a flood risk. Tyler may be a bit too big for some doomers, and rural East Texas may not the be cup-of-tea for people from Austin or other Texas cities. Some may feel that Tyler is too close to Dallas (about a 2 hr drive). However, the retreat center itself is tucked away from major roads, so I think it's safe. The problem I have with this location is that there's lots of vacation homes/lake houses along the lake. If the people living there don't head for Tyler or Dallas when SHTF, they could become a problem.

MO Ranch (Conference Center)
2229 FM 1340
Hunt, TX 78024
~22 miles/40 minutes from Kerrville, TX (pop: ~20,000) and ~90 miles/2 hrs from San Antonio, TX.
Pros: Located in the heart of the Texas Hill Country, along the Guadalupe River. Beautiful location with easy access to water and woodlands. There seems to be plenty of farming in the Guadalupe River valley. Although MO Ranch and Pine Cover are about equally distant from the major cities, MO Ranch is more isolated thanks to the Hill Country and being relatively out of the way on a Farm-Market road. In fact, before the automobile era, the whole region where Kerrville is located was relatively isolated and travel times were long.
Cons: There might not be enough farm land in the area to feed the retreated populations. MO Ranch is more isolated from the nearest town than other retreat centers, which might make commuting and bugging out more problematic. Self-sufficiently is more important for MO ranch than other retreat centers.

Which one of these retreat locations would you prefer for TEOWAWKI?

Personally, if it wasn't for the nuclear power plant, I'd choose Glen Rose, thanks partially to being located next to a small town and being closer to Austin than the other two options. My realistic choice would be Pine Cover, with its plentiful water and farmland resources.
I'm split. Glen Rose may win out IRL because my church has a long relationship with them.

[ferretkona]

Originally Posted by GlobalistPotato

,,,Can most retreat locations (that are often used by churches for weekend spiritual retreats) be used as retreat locations for TEOTWAWKI?,,, .

One thought here.
Any retreat can be a defensible position. How prepared are the people in the retreat to killing others to defend the position?
A position not aggressively defended will be over come. A christian retreat will not have only other christians knocking at the doors.

[GlobalistPotato]

Well, you're thinking of a full-on fast crash.

I'm thinking of The Long Emergency, or a "exponential crash"
I have several assumptions that make the "people knocking at the door" unlikely to happen:
The scenario at place isn't one that would prompt a large-scale evacuation of a city, like a nuclear attack or other such event.
I'm more thinking of preparing for Peak Oil and the monetary collapse.
In fact, I more see that people from the Suburbs and boonies (who aren't already self-sufficient) will retreat to the cities where there still is functioning infrastructure and government aid (aka bread lines).

Is it a defendable location? Question is: can the attackers keep up their advance? Or with they be stalled out and broken up when their supplies run out?
But will the people who are there ready to defend themselves? I would suppose so.

However, I have not given the issue of "incoming refugees at the gate" much thought because I found it unlikely to happen if proper steps were taken (ie, staying away from trouble), and also because I have more immediate concerns (like feeding myself and actually having a means to defend myself).