Excellent and knowledgeable staff gave great tour of the home. Lots of great trivia and insider information. Every fan of the show "Dallas" should do this once.
Ok so it is like on TV and just a ranch like any other ranch with a house that was part of a TV series. Been there done that....check!
Staff was knowledgeable of the grounds, the main house, owners history and the characters of both Dallas shows. Note filming of original Dallas was not in the main house only the grounds. Exhibits at entrance of tour were nice.
Very disappointed that none of the original shows were filmed inside. Rooms were copied at California studios. Outsides shots were filmed at South fork. The kitchen has been repainted, doesn't even have the same staircase as in show. Some of the house was used for the newer show which meant nothing to me. it was somewhat exciting imagining the different scenes outside. I guess if this is enough for you it is worth visiting - if doesn't displease that only one of the reunion shows was filmed in the living room then you may appreciate it more than I. The tour guide talked so fast and presented all of the info before the tiny tour started. Went once - no need to go again.
I love this place and the people who run the trail rides! The trail rides are fantastic and the wranglers are wonderful. Plus you receive tons of history about the ranch and the tv series Dallas.
"If you ever watched TV soap opera "Dallas", it will be fun for you to visit this place. You will hear interesting stories about making some of the scenes, how this house was picked up to be the place for filming it etc. Lots of memorabilia in and around the house." These three sentences are cut and pasted from another review because they are accurate. There were two tour guides, one drives you to the house and the other one gives you a tour of the house. Both were very nice. The only person that wasn't was the woman at the front desk selling the tour tickets. She was snippy and seemed like she didn't want to be there and was taking her dissatisfaction out on the customers. We went yesterday around 2 pm and were still there when they closed promptly at 5:00 (they politely tell you they are getting ready to close). There are two gift shops. The one with Jock's car had two clerks in it and they also were very nice. The second gift shop is where you walk in when you first get there that has the snippy ticket seller. There is also a Dallas "museum" attached to this gift shop. They have videos you can watch, articles you can read hanging on the walls, a big reference chart (for lack of a better name) showing the interrelationships between all the characters that takes up an entire wall, several pieces of memorabilia and items from the show (eg Lucy's wedding dress). The museum attendant, who was also very nice and who wore a Stetson hat and seemed like he was a local, told us Lucy's child in real life got married there a few weeks ago, not sure if that's true but I am sure a Google search would verify it, or not. We could have easily spent another hour in there if they weren't closing so early. Also because of road construction it will be easy to miss the entrance and think they are just closed to the public (like we almost did) but don't be deterred by this because although it may not look like it from the street, they are open. Also, if you ask one of the construction workers where the entrance is, expect to get a blank stare unless you speak Spanish. One more thing, about the "Miss Ellie's Deli". It is staffed by one person and has five menu choices on a blackboard (no actual menus) which include four sandwiches and a hot dog. If you order the club sandwich and you tell them you want it on white bread toasted they will tell you they have neither white bread nor a toaster. Reminded me of the scene in the movie "My Cousin Vinnie" when they look at the menu with only three choices in it. Don't plan to eat there. 1/2 sandwich with stale bread and lunch meat, small bag of chips and bottle of iced tea was $9.50. The only thing about that Deli that ever remotely had anything to do with the TV show was the name of it, which you won't even see unless you hunt for it. If you are visiting this city and liked the show, this is definitely worth the trip. If it wasn't for the ticket seller this would be 5 stars.
As a Dallas fan, I convinced my husband to take me to visit South Fork during our honeymoon road trip. We weren't quite sure what to expect but were definitely not disappointed. The admission price was reasonable and the gift shop had some great memorabilia. You are taken to the house by shuttle and we had a great tour guide who gave us some history about the ranch and also the TV show. She also took pictures of us in the living room and we were able to use our own cameras throughout. After the tour we were able to walk around the house and ranch at our own leisure, which was nice. Unfortunately we were too late to go horse riding around the ranch but will definitely do that if we visit again. All in all a really good afternoon.
I really enjoyed going to Southfork Ranch. I have to be honest, I've never seen an episode of the old show, I've never seen an episode of the reboot. But my Dad is a fan of the show, so we thought, we have to go here. I think the tour was very good. You drove around the grounds, and then went inside the house, heard history about the house, its owners, and of course, the show. I found out very interesting facts and then the house tour began. We were allowed pretty much everywhere inside the house and out onto the balcony. You got to see the room where J.R. was shot, but it was covered by glass, so you couldn't actually go inside the room. After the tour, you were allowed to wander around the grounds for as long as you like. You could see the mini-houses on the property, graves of characters that have died, and they even had animals. They had horses and farm animals. No cows, though. At the beginning of the tour, you take a photo with your family or group, in front of a lit up sign saying "Dallas", and you get to sit on actors chairs or hold their hats. I was lucky enough to be allowed to hold Jesse Metcalfe's hat. They apparently do horse rides, but I don't think they do them in Winter, which is when I was there. They have a cafe, which we didn't eat at because it wasn't lunch time yet, and a pretty big gift shop. I would defiantly go here.
It's about 45 mins from Dallas16 dollars in which is high enoughNice shop and many souvenirs You get a tram to the house The guide knew all the stars so very interesting House is small but goodElle's kitchen okYou can walk around and see stables,Eleanas cottage and fake gravesNo sign of jocks car or Rays houseMaybe I missed themGreat pictures of JR and othersJR RIPRecommended
A rather surreal experience walking around the Southfork ranch so familiar to Dallas fans. Even my husband, no Dallas fan, enjoyed the experience. The tour is good but it is important to note that all the indoor shots of the series were filmed in California. However it was great fun to sit on that ever so windy terrace, stand on the balcony overlooking the swimming pool, visit Elena's house and see the Lincoln car of Jock Ewing.