Housing in Camp Wood is modest and varied, reflecting the town's small scale and its role as a recreation base. The stock includes older small-town homes in and around the downtown, riverfront cabins and cottages, and scattered Hill Country acreage on the surrounding plateau. Along State Highway 55, a number of river resorts and campgrounds—offering cabins and RV sites—serve visitors and seasonal residents. Because much of the surrounding land has historically been purchased by people drawn to the area's natural beauty, property here spans practical in-town residences and larger recreational holdings, all set within a rugged limestone-and-cedar landscape.

Life in Camp Wood revolves around the Nueces River and the outdoors. Residents spend warm days swimming in the clear shallows, fishing, kayaking, and tubing, with city parks and river access points making the waterfront part of the everyday routine. The pace is slow and neighborly, consistent with a town of a few hundred people. Hunting, hiking, and exploring the surrounding Hill Country round out the local calendar. As the heart of the Nueces Canyon, Camp Wood offers a self-contained, nature-driven lifestyle far removed from larger Texas metros, yet connected to them by State Highway 55.

Camp Wood is served by the Nueces Canyon Consolidated Independent School District, whose elementary campus is located in downtown Camp Wood. The district serves the wider Nueces Canyon area, bringing together students from Camp Wood and the surrounding countryside, and higher grades are also served within the district's consolidated structure. The presence of the elementary campus in the heart of town makes the school a focal point of community life in this small Hill Country city, where the school calendar and its events are central to the local rhythm.

State Highway 55 is Camp Wood's main transportation artery, running through town and connecting it south toward Uvalde and north through the Hill Country toward the Edwards Plateau's interior. County and ranch roads branch off toward surrounding properties and river access points. The nearest regional centers—Uvalde to the south and Kerrville to the northeast—are reached via these rural highways, making Camp Wood a quiet but connected stop within a larger network of Hill Country roads rather than a town on a major interstate corridor.

The Nueces River is the center of recreation in Camp Wood, offering swimming, fishing, kayaking, and tubing in clear, spring-fed water. Camp Wood City Park and Bruce Park provide river access within town, while Los Rios Campground, Cooksey Park, and several river resorts along State Highway 55 serve visitors and campers. The surrounding Hill Country and Edwards Plateau add hiking, hunting, and wildlife viewing, with the broader Nueces Canyon offering scenic drives and natural attractions. For a town its size, Camp Wood is unusually rich in river-based outdoor recreation year-round.