Bishop Castle

Tucked away in a remote region of central Colorado, Bishop Castle is a handcrafted masterpiece, served with a side of danger. This impressive castle, built by hand with stone and iron, is a physical testament to one quirky man’s dream and perseverance. Jim Bishop started the castle in 1969 at the age of 25, and he’s still alive today and actively works on the castle. Originally, Jim wanted to build a one-room stone cottage. But his dream ran wild, and the towering fortress now stands around 160 feet tall! Constructed by hand with over 1,000 tons of rock, Bishop Castle defies belief (well, the beliefs of everyone but Jim). The castle sits just off the road in Middle of Nowhere, Colorado (technically, it’s in Rye, Colorado, but the castle is miles from any sign of civilization). The castle is completely free to enter, and the more daring visitors can climb turrets, race around iron balconies, discover hidden stone stairwells — nothing is off limits. One of the most iconic and fantastic features of Bishop Castle is the towering metal dragon that perches 80 feet in the air off the front of the castle. This dragon was sculpted by Jim and added in the 1980s. Inside, the star of the show is the Grand Ballroom, a cavernous room with magnificent ceilings and oversized windows of intricate stained glass. Jim works on the castle almost daily, and visitors will likely run into him while wandering around the property. But even if you don’t happen to meet the King of the castle, his presence is felt everywhere through hand-painted, politically-charged signs scattered around the property. Despite several run-ins with the government, Jim continues to assert his authority as ruler over his own domain. This castle is not for the faint of heart. A towering structure constructed by one feisty hermit, with no permits of any sort, kept my adventurous spirit in my throat for most of my visit — especially when looking down through rickety metal framework from several stories up. But the experience is definitely worth the risk. There’s no place like Bishop Castle. And no one like Jim.