Bishop’s Castle

We have wanted to check this out for a long time.  I found out that the man who built the castle has cancer, and I don’t know what the fate of the castle will be.  SO I made sure to call a family day, pack a picnic and head over to see it.

Deep in the forest,

There lies a castle that is 160 ft tall, which is equivalent to a sixteen story building.

Young Jim Bishop in 1959 at the  age of 15 paid $450 for a two and a half acre piece of land enclosed on three sides by the San Isabel National Forest. It was money saved from mowing lawns, throwing newspapers, and working with his father Willard in the family ornamental iron works.

It only makes sense that there is plenty of ornate iron throughout the castle since he worked with his father learning the art of ornamental iron.

Rock by rock he has placed and secured with mortar.  Hauling these rocks up to the top I’m sure was quite a chore.

I of course was all excited to see this castle, but instantly turned into the paranoid mom not wanting her kids to get hurt.  I worried about the castle being structurally safe and kids too close to the edge.  Most places as you can see below and no railing whatsoever.

The main floor in the middle had a lot of windows and even stained glass ones.

The picture just don’t do it justice for the size that his castle is.  It really is HUGE!  I am amazed at one man’s dream that he brought to reality stone by stone. 

We then headed down the mountain for our picnic lunch.  We got a bit lost and ended up at a little park that was in the opposite direction that we needed to go.  Ash didn’t mind a quick swing before we headed out on the right path.