The Cathedral Spires are closed from March 1 to July 31 for raptor nesting.
BETA PHOTO: View from Cynical Pinnacle area.
Description
High on the hillside and nearly facing Cynical Pinnacle and The Sunshine Wall is the stunning yellow East face of The Bishop. From a distance, this gorgeous face appears to be nearly featureless, but for a single wide crack that cleaves the rock in two. In fact, The Bishop is host to several routes, including what may well be the best single pitch 5.11 crack in the state, hell, anywhere.
Getting There
Approach The Bishop as you would for Cyical Pinnacle. Parking can be had off Jefco 96, 3.8 miles from the intersection with road 97 and the South Platte river. Hike up the mining road past the cutoff for the Dome. You can bush-whack a ridge line that provides line of sight guidance to The Bishop, in the past a cairn trail takes off from the drainage heading West. The hiking takes about 60 minutes, and it is indeed all uphill.
The Classics
Mountain Project's determination of some of the classic, most popular, highest rated routes for The Bishop:
While Bishop Crack is a two pitch route, the first pitch gets my vote as the best single pitch 5.11 crack in Colorado. Several years ago we headed up to The Bishop with our minds full of sending the whole damn unit, however, there is nothing like having eyes far bigger than our stomachs.Bishop Crack starts left of center on the perfectly vertical East face, a brilliant yellow wall in the morning sun. A wide 5.8 squeeze gets the juices flowing for...[more]Browse More Classics in CO
Although the sign at the road along the river says that the Bishop ( and all of the land behind the sign - up to the North Pole ??)is closed for raptor nesting from February to July it cannot technically be closed by any government agency. The Bishop is on private land and the landowners, the Priests from back east have granted permission to climb on their land. The State wildlife department and Jefferson county officials do not have jurisdiction on private land for non-endangered species. Depending on the way you approach the cliff you may be crossing public and and be violating rules for which certain land managers do have jurisdiction. Regardless, it is important to avoid disturbing nesting raptors and they usually let you know when you get too close to a nest. Hopefully the land management agencies who have responsibility for the public lands in the area, including Cynacle Pinnacle and The Dome will someday take a more reasonable approach to closing this several square mile area. I know of at least one individual who was improperly given a _300 ticket. So, if you get into trouble, you may want to do some research before coughing up_____
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