 Southfork Ranch, the ranch used in the series (beginning with  episode #2.1: Reunion, Part 1), is in Parker, TX, a small suburb  about 25 miles northeast of downtown Dallas near Plano. In the  series, the ranch was actually supposed to be north of Dallas on  State Hwy. 289, better known to Dallasites as Preston Rd. That would  put the intended setting of the ranch most likely in the Frisco or  Hebron area, which today is a densely populated and still rapidly  growing suburban area. At the time of the show, the area was very  rural.