diff --git a/examples/land-cover/src/App.tsx b/examples/land-cover/src/App.tsx
index b33230b..d34b0bd 100644
--- a/examples/land-cover/src/App.tsx
+++ b/examples/land-cover/src/App.tsx
@@ -254,7 +254,8 @@ export default function App() {
       ? [
           new COGLayer({
             id: "cog-layer",
-            geotiff,
+            data: COG_URL,
+            // geotiff,
             maxError: 0.125,
             debug,
             debugOpacity,
diff --git a/packages/deck.gl-geotiff/package.json b/packages/deck.gl-geotiff/package.json
index da307f9..ce00b23 100644
--- a/packages/deck.gl-geotiff/package.json
+++ b/packages/deck.gl-geotiff/package.json
@@ -42,6 +42,8 @@
     "url": "git+https://github.com/developmentseed/deck.gl-raster.git"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
+    "@loaders.gl/core": "^4.3.4",
+    "@loaders.gl/loader-utils": "^4.3.4",
     "@types/node": "^25.0.1",
     "@typescript-eslint/eslint-plugin": "^8.16.0",
     "@typescript-eslint/parser": "^8.16.0",
diff --git a/packages/deck.gl-geotiff/src/cog-layer.ts b/packages/deck.gl-geotiff/src/cog-layer.ts
index 2ce58de..5d38f90 100644
--- a/packages/deck.gl-geotiff/src/cog-layer.ts
+++ b/packages/deck.gl-geotiff/src/cog-layer.ts
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import { fromGeoTransform } from "./geotiff-reprojection.js";
 import { defaultPool, loadRgbImage } from "./geotiff.js";
 import type { GeoKeysParser } from "./proj.js";
 import { epsgIoGeoKeyParser } from "./proj.js";
+import { GeoTIFFLoader } from "./loader.js";
 
 // Workaround until upstream exposes props
 // https://github.com/visgl/deck.gl/pull/9917
@@ -29,7 +30,7 @@ type Tileset2DProps = any;
 const DEFAULT_MAX_ERROR = 0.125;
 
 export interface COGLayerProps extends CompositeLayerProps {
-  geotiff: GeoTIFF;
+  data: GeoTIFF | string;
 
   /**
    * A function callback for parsing GeoTIFF geo keys to a Proj4 compatible
@@ -97,6 +98,7 @@ const defaultProps: Partial<COGLayerProps> = {
   maxError: DEFAULT_MAX_ERROR,
   geoKeysParser: epsgIoGeoKeyParser,
   loadTexture: loadRgbImage,
+  loaders: [GeoTIFFLoader],
 };
 
 /**
@@ -114,6 +116,7 @@ export class COGLayer extends CompositeLayer<COGLayerProps> {
   };
 
   override initializeState(): void {
+    console.log("initialize props", this.props);
     this.setState({});
   }
 
@@ -123,7 +126,7 @@ export class COGLayer extends CompositeLayer<COGLayerProps> {
     const { props, oldProps, changeFlags } = params;
 
     const needsUpdate =
-      Boolean(changeFlags.dataChanged) || props.geotiff !== oldProps.geotiff;
+      Boolean(changeFlags.dataChanged) || props.data !== oldProps.data;
 
     if (needsUpdate) {
       this._parseGeoTIFF();
@@ -131,7 +134,17 @@ export class COGLayer extends CompositeLayer<COGLayerProps> {
   }
 
   async _parseGeoTIFF(): Promise<void> {
-    const { geotiff } = this.props;
+    let geotiff: GeoTIFF;
+
+    console.log(this.props.data, "data");
+
+    // If data is a string URL, create GeoTIFF from URL for lazy loading
+    if (typeof this.props.data === "string") {
+      const { fromUrl } = await import("geotiff");
+      geotiff = await fromUrl(this.props.data);
+    } else {
+      geotiff = this.props.data;
+    }
 
     const geoKeysParser = this.props.geoKeysParser!;
     const metadata = await parseCOGTileMatrixSet(geotiff, geoKeysParser);
@@ -170,6 +183,7 @@ export class COGLayer extends CompositeLayer<COGLayerProps> {
     inverseReproject: ReprojectionFns["inverseReproject"],
     images: GeoTIFFImage[],
   ): TileLayer {
+    console.log(this.props, "props");
     const { maxError, debug = false, debugOpacity = 0.5 } = this.props;
 
     // Create a factory class that wraps COGTileset2D with the metadata
diff --git a/packages/deck.gl-geotiff/src/loader.ts b/packages/deck.gl-geotiff/src/loader.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8674f0c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/deck.gl-geotiff/src/loader.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+/**
+ * Simple shim that implements the loaders.gl interface so that the user can
+ * pass a string into the data prop.
+ */
+import type { Loader, LoaderWithParser } from "@loaders.gl/core";
+import type { Source } from "@loaders.gl/loader-utils";
+import type { GeoTIFF } from "geotiff";
+
+/* ASCII I */
+const I = 0x49;
+
+/* ASCII M */
+const M = 0x4d;
+
+export const GeoTIFFLoader: LoaderWithParser<string> = {
+  id: "geotiff",
+  name: "GeoTIFF",
+  module: "geotiff",
+  version: "version",
+  worker: false,
+  extensions: ["tif", "tiff", "geotiff"],
+  mimeTypes: ["image/tiff", "image/geotiff"],
+  parse: async (arrayBuffer: ArrayBuffer): Promise<GeoTIFF> => {
+    console.log("parsing geotiff");
+    console.log(arrayBuffer);
+  },
+  // binary: false,
+  // text: true,
+  // tests: [testTIFFMagic],
+  // options: {
+  //   fetch: (input, info) => input,
+  //   geotiff: {
+  //     fetch: (input, init) => {
+  //       return input;
+  //     },
+  //   },
+  // },
+  // parseTextSync: (text: string) => text,
+};
+
+// function parseGeoTIFF(arrayBuffer: ArrayBuffer): Promise<GeoTIFF> {
+
+// }
+
+/**
+ * Test for TIFF magic bytes
+ *
+ * Magic bytes are either `II` or `MM` indicating little or big endian. Then the
+ * following bytes should be 42 for TIFF or 43 for BigTIFF.
+ */
+function testTIFFMagic(arrayBuffer: ArrayBuffer): boolean {
+  const byteArray = new Uint8Array(arrayBuffer);
+
+  const b0 = byteArray[0];
+  const b1 = byteArray[1];
+
+  // "II" = little endian, "MM" = big endian
+  const isLittleEndian = b0 === I && b1 === I;
+  const isBigEndian = b0 === M && b1 === M;
+
+  if (!isLittleEndian && !isBigEndian) {
+    return false;
+  }
+
+  const dataView = new DataView(arrayBuffer);
+
+  // 42 for classic TIFF, 43 for BigTIFF
+  const tiffVersion = dataView.getUint16(2, isLittleEndian);
+
+  return tiffVersion === 42 || tiffVersion === 43;
+}
diff --git a/pnpm-lock.yaml b/pnpm-lock.yaml
index 177d4d9..b0c963b 100644
--- a/pnpm-lock.yaml
+++ b/pnpm-lock.yaml
@@ -193,6 +193,12 @@ importers:
         specifier: ^2.20.2
         version: 2.20.2
     devDependencies:
+      '@loaders.gl/core':
+        specifier: ^4.3.4
+        version: 4.3.4
+      '@loaders.gl/loader-utils':
+        specifier: ^4.3.4
+        version: 4.3.4(@loaders.gl/core@4.3.4)
       '@types/node':
         specifier: ^25.0.1
         version: 25.0.1