It was almost dusk as I approached Bishop Castle.  I had been exploring my new home state of Colorado and had just driven down from Evergreen, through Leadville, and now into the San Isabel Forest.

I wondered if I would know it when I saw it.  They said it was a castle, built stone by stone, by one man, over a 43 year period — a unique individual named Jim Bishop.

Then I turned a corner and suddenly there it was, rising majestically to the sky like a dream from King Arthur.

I stood and looked up at the structure for a long moment.  Then I entered the castle.

There are numerous stone stairways, both interior and exterior.

The second floor has enormous windows looking out over the San Isabel Forest.

Stained glass windows and skylights are supported by intricate wrought iron structures.

The Grand Arch is amazing, and it’s hard to fathom that this is the creation of one man.

You could spend all day just exploring the castle.

The exterior walkways are over 100 feet off the ground.

The views are spectacular, if somewhat frightening.

An amazing feat of imagination and design.

Someone pulled the rope in the bell tower.  As the bell rang out through the evening air, I heard a cry of “Sanctuary!”

After climbing through the tower, looking out at the vistas that surrounded it, walking the grounds, reading the eccentric signs posted by the eccentric creator of Bishop Castle, I met Jim Bishop himself.

He was a crusty old character and was spreading cement with a trowel, laying in the final stones of a small retaining wall.  His castle is a creation that never ends, and he works on it as the rest of us live and breathe.

He cleaned up his tools, and we spoke for a time.  He was intelligent and highly focused.  And very friendly to the vagabond author who had chosen to make Colorado his home.