putting the j in jjosh

JG & JW are gonna take a massive cross-country trip for their honeymoon, crossing the US of A to check out parks, monuments, and weird stuff. When JG asked if I had any suggestions for them as they traveled, there was one that popped immediately into my mind: Bishop’s Castle.

In the summer of 2002, I was working at TLC and had been there long enough to have a sense of how to game the system a little. I had a shoot that I needed to do in LA that would happen right after the summer solstice in June, and for some reason I wanted to try and find some kind of event to attend for the solstice. From trawling the net I came across something called Psychic Chakra that was taking place south of Denver on the solstice. I got a ticket for the event, arranged my trip to LA so it had a 3 day layover in Denver and off I went.

The event was 4 hours south of Denver, near Colorado Springs, and held at a UFO Watchtower, which I liked a lot. It was a good time — the first time I heard psychedelic trance, the first time I saw fire spinners, people in costumes, VJ’s, the giant Viper lazers…I made friends with the kids camping next to me, and though I also had some weird me-alone-against-the-world stuff, it was pretty fantastic. (two months later I would go to Burning Man for the first time and discover that that culture had a city and life all its own)

After it was over I had a day to kill before my flight the next day. I wanted to check out Colorado Springs, being so close, so I went and bought entry to a hot spring where I relaxed for a while. It felt pretty good and cleansing after the party. While there, I ran into a few people who had obviously been at the Psychic Chakra  party. I told them I had a day to kill and asked them what they recommended. They thought for a while and then one said "We should send him to Bishop’s Castle!" They all agreed.

"Sounds great," I said. "Where is it?"

"Well, ummm, not too sure." "Yeah, I don’t really know." "You know, it’s uh, right, it’s near this town called Rye. If you go to Rye and just ask anybody about how to get to Bishop’s Castle they’ll tell you."

Fantastic. I hit the road, got a gas station map, found Rye (small small town), drove there and asked the first person I could find. They gave me directions.

I followed the directions and passed a few hand-painted signs on the road proclaiming that Bishop’s Castle was coming up. I was in the middle of a National Forest area, driving a small two-lane road, and I suddenly began to notice cars parked on the side of the road. I parked and walked towards a driveway up the road.

When I walked through that driveway, and into the main area of Bishop’s Castle, my jaw dropped. There was a castle there — a crazy, 3/4’s built, leaning tower of Pisa style, Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia-esque, flying buttress and iron work, one-hundred-and-sixty-foot tower Castle. I can’t really describe it very well and make it as amazing as it was. And I don’t want to overhype it for those that might visit (JG!). After I explored the castle, I was able to talk for a bit with its designer and builder Jim Bishop.

He explained that he and his dad "grew up poor", and when they heard about Disneyland they were so angry that poor people didn’t have any sort of theme park that they could go to. He and his dad decided then and there to make a castle "for the poor folks". It is open 7 days a week, and is always free. So they started building this thing. Now as near as I can tell, they weren’t following any OSHA codes, or zoning laws, or what-have-you, and they owned this land that was later surrounded by National Forest. They began to have problems with the government. So Jim began to study the lawbooks and has fought the governement tooth and nail as they’ve tried to shut the castle down.

It all gets a bit confusing, and Jim was a bit of a crazy coot, but the castle is one of the most legit things I’ve ever seen. He and his dad (now passed away) have built the whole thing by hand, and it is a singular, huge, vision. He’s been working since 1969, and has built the whole thing with a shovel and a wheel-barrow. You can climb up the 160 foot towers, walk all around the thing — there are no real guard rails, which is frightening at first, and then thrilling. You can marvel at this testament to one man’s determination and drive. It’s a true roadside "how can someone be so driven" monument. The wikipedia entry gives links to pictures, a better description of the location and so on. But if you’re going to go there, I’d resist the urge to check out the pictures and go in fresh.

You will not be disappointed.