<P> 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 high in the Sierra Nevada , with a large ranch house in the center of it . Ben Cartwright was said to have built the original , smaller homestead after moving from New Orleans with his pregnant third wife Marie and his two sons , Adam and Hoss . The grown Adam , an architect / engineer , designed the later sprawling ranch house as depicted on TV ( `` Bonanza , The Philip Diedesheimer Story '' , Oct. 31 , 1959 , NBC - TV ; Bonanza : The Return , April 1993 , NBC - TV ) . The fictional ranch was roughly a two - hour horse ride from Virginia City , Nevada . ( Note : There are slight variations as to the origin of the Ponderosa Ranch , from the original Bonanza series , Lorne Greene 's 1964 song `` Saga of the Ponderosa '' , the 1988 - 95 TV movies , and the 2001 PAX prequel series Ponderosa ) . The ranch house was a single level structure that had a facade second storey . Inside a staircase seemingly led to the first - floor corridor , but it was a dead end . The bedroom scenes were filmed at Burbank Studios . The inspiration for the name may have been the large number of Ponderosa pines in the area or the original Latin meaning of large ( root of the English word ponderous ) . The exteriors for the television show were occasionally shot in Nevada , usually out of sequence . Crews were sometimes able to complete an entire season 's work in just a few days . </P>
<P> 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 high in the Sierra Nevada , with a large ranch house in the center of it . Ben Cartwright was said to have built the original , smaller homestead after moving from New Orleans with his pregnant third wife Marie and his two sons , Adam and Hoss . The grown Adam , an architect / engineer , designed the later sprawling ranch house as depicted on TV ( `` Bonanza , The Philip Diedesheimer Story '' , Oct. 31 , 1959 , NBC - TV ; Bonanza : The Return , April 1993 , NBC - TV ) . The fictional ranch was roughly a two - hour horse ride from Virginia City , Nevada . ( Note : There are slight variations as to the origin of the Ponderosa Ranch , from the original Bonanza series , Lorne Greene 's 1964 song `` Saga of the Ponderosa '' , the 1988 - 95 TV movies , and the 2001 PAX prequel series Ponderosa ) . The ranch house was a single level structure that had a facade second storey . Inside a staircase seemingly led to the first - floor corridor , but it was a dead end . The bedroom scenes were filmed at Burbank Studios . The inspiration for the name may have been the large number of Ponderosa pines in the area or the original Latin meaning of large ( root of the English word ponderous ) . The exteriors for the television show were occasionally shot in Nevada , usually out of sequence . Crews were sometimes able to complete an entire season 's work in just a few days . </P>
where was the ponderosa supposed to be located
where was the ponderosa supposed to be located
the shores of Lake Tahoe , nestled high in the Sierra Nevada
the shores of Lake Tahoe , nestled high in the Sierra Nevada