Steps up to one of the cabins

Boarded up light green cottage

One of several cabins on the St. Anne's Retreat property

Dark green cabin at St. Anne's Retreat

Playhouse built for the Hatch family daughters

Swing set overlooking Logan Canyon road (Highway 89)

Cache Valley Magazine article (2010) featuring St. Anne's Retreat (Pine Glenn Cove)

Pine Glenn Cove, also known as Hatch’s Camp, St. Ann’s Retreat (or St. Anne's Retreat, as it is reference in most legends and some scholarly articles), and “The Nunnery,” was initially a summer home belonging to the Boyd Hatch family from New York, and Mrs. Hortense Odlum. The property was donated in the 1950s to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City, and it was used occasionally as a retreat and a vacation place for Sisters of the Holy Cross. Because it was not in continuous use, there was ample opportunity for vandals to visit, even on nights when the sisters were present. This prompted the nuns to get watch dogs to alert them to the presence of intruders. The sisters felt unsafe with the increase of the sometimes intoxicated young trespassers and vandals, and stopped coming to the retreat.

In 1992, Mark Epstein, together with some other investors, bought the property with plans of turning it into vacation homes. What these investors may not have anticipated was the generally accepted folk tradition of legend-tripping to the site, generated by the long standing cultural gap between local Mormons and Catholics, and how fear, belief, prejudice would interfere with their hopes of vacationing peacefully in the beautiful mountains of Logan Canyon. As of 2014, the property is under new ownership. 

St. Ann's OR St. Anne's: What's in a Name?

According to the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City, the Retreat is officially spelled St. Ann’s Retreat (Ann without an “e”). Local traditions, including most collected legend versions held in the Fife Folklore Archives, articles from the local newspaper, and some scholarly articles, use the spelling of St. Anne’s (with the “e”). While not the official spelling, the exhibit reflects the folklore surrounding this location. Therefore, we have chosen to represent the folk spelling in this exhibit. 

It is still crucial to note the official spelling and connection to the Catholic Church. For more information, please reference USU Professor Lisa Gabbert's 2015 article, "Legend Quests and the Curious Case of St. Ann’s Retreat:The Performative Landscape," in Putting the Supernatural in Its Place: Folklore, the Hypermodern, and the Ethereal, wherein she discusses the traditions of St. Ann's Retreat.