About Us

In the summer of 1939, J. Mule ("Coach") and Liz Davis took their four boys and several of their friends from Lubbock to the Sangre de Christo mountains near El Porvenier, New Mexico. As more youngsters took advantage of this wonderful opportunity, Coach and Liz began looking for a larger location for Camp Davis.

In 1944, a 40-acre plot, which was carved out of a large cattle ranch, was leased and Camp Davis began in earnest. At first 60 boys, then later 60 girls, came to Camp for a month at a time to enjoy every outdoor activity imaginable: horseback riding, hiking, fishing, swimming, tennis, archery, riflery, and many other outdoor activities. Camp features buildings built from the early 1900's, including a full-size dining room/kitchen, a large recreation hall, an adobe main house, and eight rustic cabins nestled in the pines next to a spring-fed creek.

The summer camp continued until 1970, when Bill and Irma Davis took the reins and the entire summer was devoted strictly to Family Camp; this allowed families to stay and enjoy the mountains for a week at a time. Family Camp has very little structure other than meals and horseback rides, and that's the way our guests like it!

Camp Davis is now operated by the third generation of the Davis family: Bennett and Kelly (Davis) Murphy, natives of New Orleans and Dallas, respectively, bring many years of hospitality experience, allowing them to expand the scope of Camp to include the fall, winter and spring seasons in addition to summertime. The ultimate goal is to operate as a twelve-week summer camp for families and groups, and as a guest ranch in the off-season, offering lodging and excellent dining in a rustic, mountain setting, much like a B & B.

Camp Davis is a year-round lodging destination that is beautiful any time of the year...

Summertime, geared towards families and groups, is a time of warm days and cool nights, when guests can get out and participate in almost any outdoor activity they can think of.

Autumn features vivid fall color courtesy of stands of aspen, cottonwood and oak. The weather is typically mild, and you will be treated to warm days and crisp nights, enabling you to hike, fish, leaf-look and kick back to your heart's content.

Winter brings bluebird days interspersed with heavy, champagne snowfalls that blanket the meadows and evergreens with thick coats of white. Days invite guests to snowshoe, cross-country ski, and hike, while nights bring hearty, family-style meals and a cozy fire in your cabin.

Springtime in the Rockies puts on a show with meadows full of purple iris by mid-April, and many other wildflower shows to follow. The days warm up with lots of sunshine, and the nights remain cool. There is water running everywhere from the melt-off of the winter's snowpack, and once again the woods and hillsides invite guests to get out for a day hike in the balmy weather.