Ponderosa Ranch Ponderosa Ranch The Ponderosa Ranch was a theme park based on the popular 1960s television western "Bonanza", which housed the affluent land, timber and livestock-rich Cartwright family. The amusement park operated in Incline Village, Nevada, near Lake Tahoe, from 1967 until 2004. Portions of the last five seasons of the TV series and three TV movies were also filmed at that location. The Ponderosa was the fictional setting for "Bonanza". According to the 9th episode ("Mr. Henry Comstock") in the first season, it was a thousand-square mile (640,000 acre or 2,600 km) ranch on the shores of Lake Tahoe, nestled
Ponderosa Ranch that visitors could have their pictures taken either on or alongside. The park also had a church that could be reserved for weddings near the church where the grave markers are located. In 1999, a VHS tour was made available to patrons. In 2002, David Canary appeared at the ranch in Candy's wardrobe for a special produced by PAX TV. The ranch and park remained a popular seasonal attraction for decades after the network run of "Bonanza" ended, having outlived most of the series' original cast. Business remained strong into the late 1990s. The land was purchased by billionaire software