Darker Than the “Pedophile Island”: What We Know About Jeffrey Epstein’s Zorro Ranch
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- Zorro Ranch, a vast New Mexico property bought by Jeffrey Epstein in 1993, included a large mansion, extensive amenities and even an airstrip, according to reported details.
- The ranch has been cited in reporting and US legal filings, including allegations that an underage victim was abused there in 1996.
- After Epstein’s death in 2019, the property was sold, but questions remain about what officials knew and how allegations were handled.
Jeffrey Epstein was known to own multiple luxury properties, including two islands in the US Virgin Islands and a seven-story townhouse in New York City. The late financier and convicted sex offender also owned an expansive ranch property in the United States.
The ranch, known as Zorro Ranch, is located in New Mexico. Spanning about 4,000 hectares, the estate features a large main residence and several animal enclosures.
Citing Forbes on Wednesday (Feb. 4, 2026), Epstein purchased the ranch in 1993 for around 12 million US dollars. He later built a luxury home measuring roughly 2 square meters.
An aerial photograph shows the ranch house sprawling across the property. In front of the residence, a landscaped garden with clusters of green trees was designed to give the compound a serene look.
Next to the main house, the property includes a broad courtyard with what appears to be a water feature at its center. The area is ringed by flowers and ornamental plants intended to enhance the setting.
Epstein also built small houses near the ranch entrance. A dedicated guardhouse was constructed at Zorro Ranch as well, aimed at preventing unauthorized access.
Amenities on the estate were extensive, including an indoor swimming pool, a gym, a library and a large living room. The property also reportedly had a garage intended for Epstein’s private vehicles and those of visiting guests.
Jeffrey Epstein owned a ranch known as Zorro Ranch in New Mexico, the United States. Photo: US Department of Justice
The compound also included a sizable horse stable and a horse-racing arena. Epstein was also reported to have maintained a greenhouse for cultivating ornamental plants.
Due to the sheer scale of Zorro Ranch, the property reportedly featured a grass airstrip measuring around meters. It also included a helipad and a hangar used to store aircraft.
A Cover for Buying the Ranch
Many observers have suspected Epstein acquired the ranch to conceal criminal plans. Those suspicions resurfaced after millions of pages of Epstein-related documents were released by the US Department of Justice this week.
The New York Times also reported in 2019—under the headline “Jeffrey Epstein’s Little Secret: He Hoped to Seed the Human Race With His DNA”—that Epstein intended to use Zorro Ranch as an operational hub for spreading his DNA, an idea framed as an attempt to “improve” humanity through reproduction.
Beyond those allegations, the ranch—also referred to as Zyzzyx—has been linked to Epstein’s sexual abuse. In the US Department of Justice indictment against Epstein’s former partner, Ghislaine Maxwell, filed in 2020, prosecutors alleged that Maxwell and Epstein sexually abused an underage victim at the ranch in 1996.
Despite the allegations tied to Zorro Ranch, there has been no further investigation publicly detailing what occurred on the property. Santa Fe lawmaker Andrea Romero said there has not been sufficient evidence made available to establish a fuller account of what happened at Epstein’s ranch.
“This commission will specifically seek the truth about what officials knew, how crimes were reported or not reported, and how the state can ensure that this essentially never happens again,” Romero said, as quoted by CTV News.
Following Epstein’s death in 2019, Zorro Ranch was sold to a company named San Rafael Ranch. The sale price was not disclosed, but it has been estimated at around million US dollars, or roughly billion rupiah.
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