Mt. Hood Meadows

Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Resort operates on a special use permit on the Mt. Hood National Forest, offering some of the most spectacular skiing and snowboarding in the Northwest. Meadows is a full-service winter resort providing everything you need for a refreshing and memorable day on the mountain. Base facilities are housed in North and South lodges (easy access to five lifts) and includes equipment rental and demo centers, sport shops, restaurants, adult and children’s ski schools and daycare. Also a satellite base lodge and skier services center at Hood River Meadows.

Mt. Meadows History

In 1966 the Forest Service recognized a need for another special use operation as a ski resort.  Frankiln G Drake and friends got together after seeing an ad in the newspaper asking for applications to create and operate a ski resort. Drake and friends were awarded a 30 year permit to plan, build, and operate a ski area on Mt. Hood. Work quickly started on creating the ski area and a partial operation began in 1967 while the area was eagerly awaiting completion of Highway 35. By February 1969, Mt. Hood Meadows had expanded to operating seven days a week. The 1970s brought a decade of development of ski school and gained national recognition, including the U.S. Ski Team designating Meadows as an official summer training site. The 1980s saw expansion of Mt. Hood Meadows, including slope side medical center, additional chairlifts, expansion of terrain into Heather Canyon, and construction of the North Lodge. 2001 saw the acquisition of Cooper Spur Ski Area adding additonal acres to ski closer to Hood River. 2014 saw a shift to year round operation when Meadows began offering scenic chair rides, guided hikes, summer camps and events.

Check out the brand new Sahale Lodge, completed Fall 2020. Sahale Lodge boasts 23,500 square feet of dining and resort services space. 

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating: 4.0/5 TripAdvisor Traveler Rating based on 83 reviews

TripAdvisor

  • TripAdvisor Rating
    April 24, 2023
    Storm K

    Buyers Beware!

    After looking at Mt. Hood Meadow's website and seeing that they had an RV parking lot on site and were open every day through April 3oth, I called them on April 4th to confirm their operating model. At this time, I told the person on the phone that my wife and I were planning a week-long snowboarding trip from April 17th - 21st. I was told over the phone that the RV spots first come, first serve, and we will need an Oregon parking pass to stay in the RV lot. I then told the attendant that we would travel six hours to get there so that we would take our chances with the RV lot. I then asked the attendant about the best ticketing option based on our stay timeline. We were instructed that the Spring Season Pass would be our best option. On that same day, per the phone attendant's instructions, I went online and purchased two spring season passes totaling $502. On Sunday, April 16th, we arrived at Mt. Hood Meadows RV lot around midday. The conditions on the mountain weren't great, so we decided we would get our van all set up in the lot and then make our way over to the ticket counter to pick up our Spring passes and maybe get a few runs in before our first full day on Monday, April 17th. We moved our van to two different spots in the RV lot. Keep in mind the RV lot is attended by staff working at Meadows. At no time during our several hours of setting up the van did anyone of the RV lot staff come over and say anything to us regarding what we were about to learn later that night. Once we had our van all set up, we slowly made our way to one of the awaiting buses to head up to the main lot to grab our passes. While getting our passes, we decided to pay for an overpriced hot Wax. Again while turning our boards in, we excitedly tell the pro shop staff our plans for the week (still crickets). We then proceed to the ticket counter to pick up our season passes, again excitedly telling their staff our weekly plans (crickets still). With passes in hand, we decided to do a couple of runs but decided to call it quits as conditions were poor, and we had all week to get in good-quality runs. Sunday night, there was a significant winter storm hitting this side of Mt. Hood. We decided it would be best to make dinner in our van while sharing a bottle of wine before heading to bed. We did precisely that before heading to bed. Around 9 pm, we heard a knock on our van. As we scrambled to get up and dressed, we were met with a Security Guard stating we had to leave the mountain as Mt. Hood Meadows was closed until next Friday. After I explained my entire story about purchasing the Spring Season passes, I asked how that could be. He said, "This is new to him. He just found out when he came on shift." He did say, "We can have some time to get broken down, but we have to leave tonight." We then proceeded to pack up and slowly descend the mountain until we could find our first safe spot to pull over and sleep for the night. I have sent serval emails to Meadows explaining the above and asking for a refund. To date, I have never received a reply. The bottom line, they failed to uphold their part of this purchasing agreement. Furthermore, they had plenty of opportunities to inform us of their change in schedule, but they did not.

  • TripAdvisor Rating
    April 26, 2022
    howellh293

    Just as good as colorado or utah

    when the conditions are right, low temperature and recent five feet of snow overnight, it's as good as going to Utah. I don't feel need to travel anywhere else! short lift lines even on weekends, helpful and friendly staff, veteran discount. beautiful views of Mt Hood and Adams.

  • TripAdvisor Rating
    February 27, 2022
    Stumz

    Tix purchased online in advance were not honored

    Funny story about our experience 😐My son and I reserved 2 full day tickets a month in advance by purchasing online. We drove from Seattle to Hood but Meadows had closed their parking lot and their parking crew sent us home…no entry. They said they were full, and no additional skiers could enter the grounds regardless of our reservation/ticket. I mentioned we drove there BECAUSE we reserved tickets in advance, to which they said "Sorry, we’re closed and that’s the reality brah.” LOL – reminds of the Seinfeld – They know how to TAKE a reservation, but they don’t know how to HOLD a reservation….and the HOLD part is the most important thing about the reservation. Oh, they did say although there were no refunds… that we could get credit for another day.

  • TripAdvisor Rating
    January 24, 2022
    charlesrR2575KC

    Our food server had a mask but visible lice in their dreads.

    We were wondering if going to be so close to Portland would the people at Mt Hood be a problem... Yep, they were. They were the most unprofessional and ignorant staff we have ever experienced in our 40 some years visiting major ski areas. Never again. Save your money and go someplace else. It is a shame Mt Hood, Portland, and Oregon, in general, have devolved into the subhuman.

  • TripAdvisor Rating
    February 6, 2021
    cwagners91

    Terrible, rude service and staff

    The skiing looks great but the terrible service made us leave immediately. We oversaw purchasing lift passes in advance and they wouldn’t sell them to us at the counter (you could only buy them online). While we were trying to do so, an employee by name of Natkia kicked us out of the lodge and told us that we had to purchase the ticket outside, in the parking lot. “No loitering allowed”, she said. We’re trying to spend almost a thousand dollars and we’re loitering? If that’s how they treat their business, you should take your business elsewhere. I would recommend Timberline.

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Snow Report

  • Status

    Open

  • 24HR

    0"

  • BASE

    126"

More information about Mt. Hood Meadows

  • Acres of Terrain

    2,150

  • Average Annual Snowfall

    430 inches

  • Base Lodge Elevation

    5,366 feet

  • Beginner Runs

    15%

  • Bottom Lift Elevation

    4,523 feet

  • Expert Runs

    35%

  • Intermediate Runs

    50%

  • Maximum Run Length

    3 miles

  • Night Skiing

    1

  • Number of Runs

    85

  • Top Lift Elevation

    7,300 feet

  • Total Lifts

    11

  • Vertical Drop

    2,777 feet