D.H. Lawrence Ranch
HeyTaos · Free Guide
D.H. Lawrence Ranch
A 160-acre ranch on Lobo Mountain, 20 miles northeast of Taos, where novelist D.H. Lawrence lived intermittently between 1924 and 1925. Owned today by the University of New Mexico, with Lawrence's ashes interred in a small memorial chapel on the property.
"I think New Mexico was the greatest experience I ever had from the outside world. It certainly changed me forever."D.H. Lawrence
Lawrence and his wife Frieda first came to Taos in September 1922 at the invitation of arts patron Mabel Dodge Luhan. In 1924, Luhan gave Frieda the 160-acre Kiowa Ranch on Lobo Mountain, in exchange for the manuscript of Lawrence's novel Sons and Lovers. Lawrence, Frieda, and painter Dorothy Brett moved to the ranch in May 1924, repairing the homestead buildings by hand and staying five months. Lawrence's final stay ran from April to September 1925, during which he completed parts of The Plumed Serpent. His total time in New Mexico across three visits came to about eleven months.
What's on the Ranch
The Homesteader's Cabin
Built in the late 1880s by original homesteader John Craig, this three-room cabin is where Lawrence and Frieda lived and worked.
The Lawrence Tree
The towering ponderosa pine Lawrence wrote beneath, later painted by Georgia O'Keeffe in 1929. Her painting hangs today at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Connecticut.
The Lawrence Memorial
A small chapel built in 1934 holding Lawrence's ashes in its altar. Frieda is buried just outside. She insisted it be called the Memorial, not the shrine, though most visitors still call it that.
The Ranch
Hard to find, harder to skip the directions. The official route is via NM-522 North to Lawrence Ranch Road, continuing 4.7 miles to the ranch. UNM explicitly warns visitors against the Google Maps route via NM-150 and Galina Road, calling it impassable.
Plan Your Visit
Free Guide. The D.H. Lawrence Ranch is featured editorially by HeyTaos because of its literary and historical significance, not because of any paid relationship. The site has had periods of closure for restoration over the years; confirm current hours and access directly with dhlawrenceranch.unm.edu before visiting.