By Michael Patrick O’Brien–
The latest episode of the long-running Discovery Road television series includes a poignant visit to the old Trappist monastery in Northern Utah that was my boyhood home away from home.
In “Tree Stories,” released in March 2026, local filmmaker and journalist James Nelson discovers some of Utah’s most interesting and historic trees growing at a pioneer homestead, on Salt Lake City’s Temple Square, and at the old Huntsville Catholic abbey.
In partnership with the Mormon Pioneer National Heritage Area, Discovery Road tells stories about the characters, places, and inspiring events of the American West. Both local television stations and the National Educational Telecommunications Association broadcast it.
It’s a personal thrill to see the monks remembered on the show.
After a painful family divorce in the 1970s, I grew up at the old Trappist abbey, a story I tell in my 2021 book Monastery Mornings. The monastery closed in 2017 as the monks aged and their numbers dwindled.
Nelson filmed the lovely trees at the old Utah abbey last fall and then stopped by my home to talk about the Trappists. He was intrigued by the tale of Catholic monks planting a monastery in Latter-day Saint Northern Utah, nurturing it with love and concern for others, and surrounding it with beautiful trees.
Trappist monks try to live in sustaining harmony with God’s creation, to become one with the land and wildlife surrounding their abbeys. The Utah monastery was no different
The monks’ 1,800 mountain valley acres included farmland, ranch land, and forested areas. The monks also planted a small forest to drain a swamp just south of their cloister.
The site of the main building—which no longer stands—is accessed by a spectacular tree-lined drive I call Abbey Road. Another small grove of trees stands silent watch over the picturesque cemetery where three dozen monks now are buried.
Bill and Alane White—local friends of the monks—bought the land when the Trappists left and have preserved the lovely space with a conservation easement. Their son Jack White and his friends have restored and still use the monks’ old woodshop, a delightful story also told in the new episode of Discovery Road.
The old woodshop is where beloved monks like Brother Nicholas—a good friend of Saint (Mother) Teresa of Calcutta—crafted handmade clocks for friends and family. I was able to buy one of the last clocks he built.
Nelson introduces the monastery segment of the documentary this way: “On the outer edge of Huntsville in the Ogden Valley, along the far stretches of gentle hills, off in the distance you can still see a special place nestled quietly among a clump of trees. It is where many decades ago Trappist monks made their claim to an ordinary way of life filled with hard work, prayer and humility.”
You can watch the whole video here. You also can read more about the new Discovery Road episode here.
Besides going to the old monastery for this new show, Nelson also traveled to Fruita, near Capitol Reef National Park, to see orchards planted by pioneer settlers. Visitors there can pick fruit from the historic trees and enjoy homemade pies (strawberry rhubarb, peach, apple, mixed berry, cherry, and seasonal pumpkin pie) baked on site.
And this latest issue of Discovery Road also recalls Nelson’s interview from a few years ago with Peter Lassig. For many years, Lassig served as the chief landscape architect at Salt Lake City’s Temple Square.
Lassig spoke lovingly about the large trees “planted at about the same time the Salt Lake Temple was dedicated” in April 1893. Those trees will still be there in 2027 to witness the Salt Lake Temple’s reopening after extensive renovation and restoration work.
The old Northern Utah Trappist monastery featured in the new Discovery Road episode was a wonderful place, special not just for its natural beauty, but also because of the beautiful people who lived and worked there.
Although the monks are gone, I think they left behind an imprint.
The birdsong that caresses the oak and elm echoes the tenor and baritone monk voices raised in wondrous praise of creation seven times a day for seven decades.
The butterflies and dragonflies that ascend and float near cypress crests and lilac crowns are the heirlooms of a thousand monk prayers whispered towards Heaven with the silent hope of making the world a better place.
And the gentle breeze that rustles both cottonwood leaves and spruce needles is the warm and peaceful legacy of every moment I cherished with the monks beneath the trees they planted.
*Mike O’Brien (author website here) is a writer and attorney living in Salt Lake City, Utah. Paraclete Press published his book Monastery Mornings, about growing up with the monks at the old Trappist monastery in Huntsville, Utah, in August 2021. The League of Utah Writers chose it as the best non-fiction book of 2022. Mike’s new holiday novel, tentatively titled “The Merry Matchmaker Monks,” will be published in time for Christmas 2026.
Thanks for sharing that.