Bishop Castle

12705 CO-165, Rye, CO 81069

If you are into the obscure, eccentric and things considered just a smidge bizarre then a trip to Bishop Castle on CO-165 is a must stop. I accidentally found this place while searching for hiking trails near Colorado City on the AllTrails app. It was listed it as a 0.1 mile hike with a cool pic of the castle so I thought I would stop and use it as a “warm up hike” (plus I was just nosey) on my way to a more significant hike up the road. I found it to be much more than a short hike.

How do I get there?

From I-25 take Exit #74 onto Colorado State Highway 165 and from there it is a 24 mile straight shot to the castle. Be cautious as you approach as parking is along the highway and it can be very busy. It is a beautiful drive as you gain altitude from the Town of Rye to 9600 feet elevation where the Castle is located.

What does it cost?

Once there carefully park along the road and walk to the castle gate. Unlike most things in life it is free to visit the Castle but they do requests donations to help continue its contstruction.

When I got to the Castle I was amazed at the amount of cars parked along the road. After a short walk the Castle came into view and I understood what the hubbub was about. It was a real castle with spires, catwalks, balconies a gate house with a moat and even a fire breathing dragon. What was even more astonishing is that people were climbing all over and through it.

As I approached the gatehouse there was a large sign that gave me the impression that maybe the owner was not happy with our government and warned that free speech was permitted on this property so you may hear swearing or strongly aggressive behavior. I later spoke to one of the locals that said the story goes that the owner, Jim Bishop, had purchased this property and was told he had to do something with it or lose it. So in order to “stick it to the man” he built this monstrosity out of spite. This may just be an urban legend but due to the nature of the entrance sign this would seem to hold some truth. However, there was no mention of this on their website.

From the courtyard I noticed a steep set of stars leading to the third level and of course I had to make the climb. Bishop Castle is the ultimate one man’s dream and an example of his determination to fulfill that dream. Jim Bishop has been building his castle by himself, brick by brick for over 50 years and he is still building.

Beautiful Stain Glass Windows

Once you climb the long staircase on the southeast corner of the castle you will enter the Grand Ball Room full with its high vaulted ceilings and beautiful stained glass windows. Many of these windows are custom made in remembrance of a special event such as a wedding or the passing of loved one. Each window is made buy a local designer and Mr. Bishop personally hangs each one. The cost is $300 which I guess is not too bad for something that is unique and will last a lifetime.

From the ball room you have a few options you can exit the ball room via the catwalk and circumnavigate the entire third story and enjoy the panoramic view. You could also take one of the 2 stairways that lead to the 2 and first floor rooms. I chose option three which was a trip up the one of the spiral staircases to the top of one of spires. There are two different spires that can be accessed from this point and I chose the highest spire of course.

As you can see in the picture above these spiral staircases are quite tight and a challenge when passing others on there way either up or down, and let me not forget to say that the stairs are not flush with the walls nor have handrails. It at times get pretty spooky.

Reaching extraordinary heights

It is a long up hill climb, but once you emerge at the top you are roughly 130 feet above the ground and the views are awesome. But it doesn’t stop there, and Mr. Bishop added an additional 30 foot steel staple with a spiral stairs resulting in a 16 story structure. If you thought the previous spiral staircase was tight well think again. This one was made for only one person. I made the trip to the top and found it be both exhilarating and scary. Once at the top the tower would sway from the wind and the people below making their way up the stairs. It literally gave me the feeling that I was going over backwards.

Once I finally climbed down I explored a few of the internal rooms beneath the grand ball room where Mr. Bishop has his workshop and a few other interesting things.

Once I reached the ground floor I decided not to climb any more spires as I had been told that the middle spire with the globe was even more shaky. My rationale was I had already climbed the highest and shook enough so I’ll call it quits and save that for the next time a visited the castle.

If you are south central Colorado and looking a day trip to lose track of time then I would highly recommend unique and scenic trip to Bishops Castle!

~ slow-Lee hiking