Great Weekend Getaways - Mountain Magic

Bishop's Castle

By Christine Loomis

A castle in Colorado? Absolutely. Sort of. Well, almost. It's more or less the shell of a castle—no kings or queens living inside. After all, it's not finished. Never mind that construction began in 1969. But what's up there in the forests of Beulah, about 45 miles west of Pueblo , is definitely a castle, and one of the state's odder tourist attractions.

Jim Bishop, the guy who's been building the castle singlehandedly for 37 years, calls it “the largest one-man construction project in the country, quite possibly the world.” At least that's what it says on the castle's website, which frankly hasn't been updated in a while. Not surprising. When you have a fulltime job at the family ornamental iron shop and spend all of your free time building a castle, there's not a lot of spare time.

Tourists are welcome to wander around the sprawling stone castle with its towers and turrets created out of more than a thousand tons of rock.

Building material was gathered from the surrounding San Isabel National Forest (eventually with permission from the government, after a long-running, heated feud) and put in place by hand by Jim Bishop.

Some call him inspired; others call him crazy. Whatever you think of Bishop, the castle itself is intriguing, and if you haven't seen it, now's the time. If you saw it even a few years ago, you might be amazed at its growth since then. As an ongoing and perpetual project, Bishop's Castle is constantly in flux.

Some platforms and walkways are high off the ground, so this may be a destination that's best for adults and families with older kids. If you do bring younger children, who will surely be intrigued by the behemoth fantasy structure, hold onto their hands at all times.

Bishop Castle is open 365 days a year, and donations to keep construction going are welcomed. There's also a gift shop on site. 719-485-3040.

Please note: This article is from our archives and some facts may have changed. Please contact your nearest AAA office and ask to speak to a travel counselor to update you on the latest travel information.

Christine Loomis is a freelance writer and editor in Lafayette, and a frequent contributor to EnCompass.