Ponderosa Ranch entrepreneur David Duffield in 2004. In September 2004 he closed the Ponderosa "indefinitely". 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
Bonanza extreme pressure from other gang members. Coffee ends up showing the town that youth and a fast gun don't replace experience. Guy Williams was slated in 1964, the year that "Bonanza" hit #1 in the ratings, to replace Pernell Roberts upon Roberts' departure, enabling the series to preserve the four-Cartwright format for the run of the series. His character, Ben's nephew Will Cartwright, was introduced and was the lead character in five episodes, receiving "Starring" billing after the four original rotating Cartwrights during his second appearance going forward, but Roberts changed his mind later and decided to stay for one