Over the spring break, my daughter and a friend decided to take a ride down towards South Central Colorado to visit an unusual stone structure that she read about on Atlas Obscura --a website that profiles "strange and wondrous" places worldwide--called Bishop Castle. It is one of the largest self-made stone castle in the United States, many decades in the making! It is located in the Wet Mountains, in the San Isabel National Forest, 90 minutes from Colorado Springs, and 2 1/2 hours from Denver, at 12705 State Highway 165 in Rye, Colorado. The castle is named after its creator, Jim Bishop who bought the land for the site for $450 when he was 15 with his earnings from mowing lawns and delivering newspapers. He wanted a place to go hunting and fishing. For the next few years his father helped him clear the land. In 1969, when he was twenty-five years old and married two years, he decided to begin to build a cottage on the land. He began constructing a fence around the property and the cottage out of rocks that he found on the property. Several neighbors and passser-bys told Bishop that the structure looked something like a castle. Bishop liked that idea and decided to continue making the building into an actual castle.
The land the castle is on is at 9,000 feet (2743.2 M) elevation so construction could only take place in the summer months when the snow was melted. In the other months, Jim worked in his family's ornamental iron shop in nearby Pueblo. He had no blueprints, no construction experience, and just built it free form by single-handedly gathering and setting over 1,000 tons of rock to create his stone, concrete, and iron fortress. He said it was the feat of a hard working man. More about the construction can be read on his website--here.
Admission to visit the castle is free and open to the public seven days a week during daylight hours. Not without controversy over the years, he has many signs on display towards the entrance to his property with his "rules." Donations are accepted to help with construction, and often Mr. Bishop is on the grounds on weekends still working on additions. There are no guided tours--it is explore at your own risk.
The castle reaches over 160 ft (49 m) tall, has large cathedral windows, a ballroom, wrought iron walkways...
...and a steel fire-breathing dragon that puffs smoke when the fireplace is lit!
For full information on planning a visit to Bishop Castle visit the website at this link.
Climbing the many staircases surrounding the castle are a thrilling part of the experience. I'm glad my daughter and her friend were brave enough to do all this climbing and take these wonderful photos, as I doubt I'd have the courage to do so!
Do you think you'd be brave enough to climb the narrow winding and sometimes shakey staircases at your own risk?
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