The Mt Hood Meadows ski resort is located in Oregon, USA just east of Portland.
Mount Hood Meadows, like its southern neighbour, Mt Bachelor, seems to have something for everyone whether you’re into freestyle riding, backcountry or like to stick to the trails.
Mountain Stats
Whilst not as big as Bachelor you still get a fair bit of terrain to play with and, with a healthy annual snowfall of 470” (11.9m), that terrain is sure to be often covered in powder.
| Mt Hood Meadows Mountain Stats |
| Resort Elevation: 2,225m (7,300ft) |
| Vertical Drop: 846m (2,777ft) |
| Ride-able area: 2,150 acres |
| Annual Snowfall: 470” (11.9m) |
| No. of Lifts: 12 (11 chairlifts + 1 ropetow) |
| No. of trails: 87 |
| Trail proportions: |
| 13 (15%) Beginner (Green) |
| 44 (50%) Intermediate (Blue) |
| 17 (20%) Advanced (Black Diamond) |
| 13 (15%) Expert (Dbl Black Diamond) |
| No. of parks: 6 + pipe |
| Night Riding: Yes – 140 acres |
Free-riding and Trails
With 87 named trails and a good mix for beginner, intermediate, advanced and expert riders a-like, there is plenty to explore on the trails. It’s all easily accessible by lift and there are practically no traverses – so you won’t risk being stuck having to walk or skate anywhere!
Check out the trail map – Mt Hood Meadows Trail Map
For those that want to get off the trails and explore the backcountry you won’t be disappointed either. The terrain off the beaten track is said to be diverse and interesting.
Whilst maybe not a huge amount, what is there is said to be quality.
Terrain Parks
There are 6 parks and a pipe! Now that’s what I call accommodating the freestyler – plus you’ll find plenty of natural terrain for riding freestyle on.
The Zoo is the beginner park and has all the smallest features for those just starting out in the park. Access is via the Easy Rider lift and is located on the east side.
The Shipyard has a bit of everything with small, medium and large features. It can be accessed by the butter cup lift and also has its own dedicated rope tow!
You can get a Shipyard rope tow pass for the whole for $25 if all you wanted to do was ride the Shipyard park. Or you can pay hourly for the rope tow ($10 per hour).
The Fireweed park is lit up at night so you can hit this one all day and night. It has mostly small features and jumps with some medium. Fireweed is accessible via the Easy Rider chairlift.
Forest Park is for intermediate park riders and is nestled away to provide shelter from wind on windy days. The Forest Park is accessible via the Stadium Express lift initially if entering from the main base area and then the Hood River Express for repeat runs. Or if you are parked in the HRM parking lot you can go directly up the Hood River Express.
The Star Park is accessed from the Shooting Star Express lift and contains features for the intermediate to advanced riders.
The Columbia park operates in the spring only. It has the largest features and is for experienced park riders only.
Mount Hood Meadows also has a banked slalom run and a super pipe which are located off the Easy Rider lift.
Night Riding
Yes. When I say it has it all, it really seems to have it all!
140 acres are lit up at night – including the fireweed terrain park.
Night operations run from Wednesday to Sunday 3pm to 9pm (weather permitted of course).
Where to Stay
Check out the page at the link below for lodging options near Mt Hood Meadows.
How to Get There
Mt Hood Meadows is located 67 miles (108km) east of Portland.
Flying:
If you are flying in from out of the region it makes sense to fly into Portland International Airport. You should be able to get direct flights from most major centres in the US and flights here will likely be the cheapest in the area.
Driving:
If you are using GPS the address for Mt Hood Meadows is: 14040 Highway 35 Mt. Hood, OR 97041
Mt Hood Meadows is only a 1hr 24 minute drive (without traffic) from Downtown Portland!
And only 1 hr 22 minutes from the Portland International Airport (without traffic – allow longer for traffic and winter conditions especially during peak hours).
Government Camp: 15 minute drive.
Hood River: 45 minutes drive (little to no traffic expected).
Portland: 90 minutes drive depending on traffic.
Salom: Around 2 hours drive depending on traffic.
Eugene: Around 3 hours drive depending on traffic.
Other Transportation Options
Meadows has a park & ride shuttle on weekends and holidays from Portland. Round trip costs $25 or you can get a lift pass/bus combination to save money.
There are a few other shuttle services that operate weekends and some on weekdays from the Portland area.
Or you can organize a ride share to catch a lift with someone else heading up there – a great, cheap option and a chance to meet fellow riders on your way up. Check out the Driveless Connect website for more details.
Usual opening date
Meadows usually opens around the second to last weekend of November. This season(2014/15) was the exception and, like many of the west coast mountains, it didn’t open until a good bit later than normal.
They have some snowmaking facilities but not heaps – usually Mother Nature is more than up to the task though.
Past 5 years opening dates:
2010/2011 Season: November 21, 2010
2011/2012 Season: November 19, 2011
2012/2013 Season: November 22, 2012
2013/2014 Season: November 23, 2013
2014/2015 Season: December 22, 2014
Usual closing date
Meadows usually closed in the last weekend of April but usually has at least one weekend of operations in May.
Past 5 years closing dates:
2010/2011 Season: May 1, 2011 (plus two weekends in May)
2011/2012 Season: April 30, 2012 (plus encore weekend May 5 & 6)
2012/2013 Season: April 29, 2013 (plus encore weekend May 4 & 5)
2013/2014 Season: April 27, 2014 (plus a couple of May weekends)
2014/2015 Season: Yet to close
Opening Hours
Lifts operate daily from 9am to 4pm and are extended until 9pm 5 days a week (Wednesday to Sunday)
Have You Experienced Mt Hood Meadows?
If you have had the chance to go riding at Meadows it would be awesome to hear what you thought of it. Just leave a comment below. Any other comments, feedback or question welcome too.
Photo Credits from top:
Photo by Eli Duke [CC BY 2.0], via Flikr
Photo by Eli Duke [CC BY 2.0], via Flikr
Photo by Nic Redhead [CC BY 2.0], via Flikr
This seems like an absolutely awesome place to go. The terrain parks offer a great variety. It seems very good value for money also. Thanks
Hey Jason – I agree, it looks amazing and the terrain parks look sick! Thanks for your input.