Ponderosa Ranch closes at Lake Tahoe

[Kadie]

Ponderosa Ranch closes at Lake Tahoe

Monday, September 27, 2004


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(09-27) 07:17 PDT INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. (AP) --

Nevada's Ponderosa Ranch has faded into the sunset.

The 570-acre Western theme park overlooking Lake Tahoe and made famous by the 1960s television series "Bonanza" shut its gates Sunday after nearly four decades.

Thousands of people visited the park over the weekend for one last snapshot of the Ponderosa and the Bonanza television show that featured the Cartwright family -- Ben, Little Joe, Hoss and Adam.

"It's the final day and look at the crowds," Royce Anderson, whose father Bill opened the Ponderosa in 1967, said Sunday.

"On Saturday we had 2,200. It was the biggest September day we've ever had. People are coming out of the woodwork."


more...
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2004/09/27/state1017EDT0032.DTL

[Sequoia]

1. I'm glad I got to see it at least

Nice little place by the way.

[sr_pacifica]

2. awwww n/t

[Xithras]

3. Sold to a developer...it figures

The developer claims that there are no plans to develop it right now, but that's likely just cover to kill off public outcry. He'll let it sit a few years, claim that the ranch is no longer preservable due to neglect, and then turn it into condo's, no doubt.

My parents took me to the Ponderosa Ranch as a kid, and I'll never forget it because it was the first time I ever rode a horse, and because Micheal Landon himself was out there doing some sort of marketing promo for them that weekend and I got a chance to meet him. It's a beautiful stretch of land with absolutely stunning views of Lake Tahoe, and it will be a shame to see it bulldozed into yet more unneeded yuppie mcmansion timeshares.