Winter Van Life: Mt. Hood Meadows
When We Visited: January/February 2022, March 2023
Mt. Hood is the highest mountain in Oregon and home to four ski resorts, including Mt. Hood Meadows.
During the 2021/22 season, we were Brundage pass holders, so we had three free days of lift access at Meadows. Meadows joined the Indy Pass for the 2022/23 season, so we were able to visit for two more days in March 2023.
What do we love about Meadows?
Short lift lines on a weekend. This surprised us since skiers and riders arrive before 7 am when lifts don’t spin until 9 am. Parking attendants begin their shift bright and early to guide each car in a long line to use the lot most efficiently. Once lots reach capacity, Meadows even blocks the offramp from Highway 26 to the ski area. Regardless of how cramped the parking lots were, the mountain itself felt uncrowded. Is this typical?
Spring conditions. Meadows points directly at the rising sun, so it doesn’t take long for the snow to soften up. Temps were so warm that I didn’t even need a jacket. Since powder turns weren’t in the forecast, I was happy for slushy runs in 2022.
Long runs. Most of the expert terrain was closed during our 2022 visit, and the open parts seemed sketchy. Instead, we spent most of our days on long groomers, starting from the top of Cascade Express. Their longest run is three miles!
Great for beginners and intermediates. I wish I had learned to ski and ride at Meadows. The runs are wide and unintimidating with plenty of space to practice turns.
Plan Your RV/Van Life Road Trip to Meadows
skihood.com
14040 Hwy 35, Mt. Hood, OR 97041
(503) 337-2222
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Pass affiliation: Indy Pass 2023/24
Operational schedule: Open daily at 9:00 am. The mountain closes at 4:00 pm unless night skiing is being offered. Check their Operational Schedule for hours by date.
Mountain Stats
- Skiable terrain: 2,150 acres
- Vertical rise: 2,777 feet
- Additional hiking: 1,700 vertical feet
- Annual snowfall: 430 inches
Driving to Meadows
Meadows is only 75 minutes east of Portland via US-26. Most traffic will be traveling from this direction. Less traffic travels south from Hood River via OR-35. Some traffic might come from the direction of Redmond, which is 2 hours south of Meadows. In any case, you’ll have to gradually climb the mountain to get to Meadows.
The mountain driving on Hood isn’t particularly scary. However, Mount Hood is a very popular place in the winter with 4 ski areas and other recreational opportunities. I’d say the biggest concerns are traffic in the mornings and afternoons and accidents during winter storms.
Avoid traffic in the late afternoon on the weekend! If you’re traveling from Mt. Hood Meadows toward Portland, you’ll pass the turn off to the main lodge at Timberline, Timberline’s Summit Pass, and Mt. Hood Skibowl. We got stuck in skier traffic around 4:30 pm before reaching the turnoff to Timberline.
Where to Park Your Van/RV at Meadows
If you don’t get an overnight spot in the Meadows Sunrise Lot, you can still park your van or RV in the Sunrise Lot. The HRM lot is also RV-friendly. Vans and RVs longer than 21 feet or wider than 7 feet are prohibited from parking in the Main Lot. See the Meadows Transportation and Parking FAQ page for more information.
Using Your 2022/23 Reciprocal Partner Pass and Indy Pass at Meadows
If your home mountain’s season pass comes with reciprocal partner perks at Meadows, or you have an Indy Pass, you can redeem your free days at any Meadows ticket window. Have your season pass (if applicable) and photo ID handy. The ticket office will give you an RFID card preloaded with all of your free days. You redeem a day when your RFID card is scanned upon your first lift ride of any day.
The ticket windows at the Main Lodge are not located inside the building. Walk through the breezeway to the back of the building where you will see another small, round building.
There are ticket windows around the whole round building but only one line. There is normally a guest services person there to let you know when it’s your turn since it’s hard to see which ticket agents are available.
Tips on How to Ski/Ride Meadows
If you’re there during spring conditions, I recommend skiing the runs on https://www.skihood.com/explore/trail-maps from left to right for the softest conditions all day.
For the best picture opportunities, ride to the top of Cascade Express and take Texas Trail to Vista Ridge. You’ll get views of neighboring ski resorts, Timberline and Mt. Hood Skibowl. Don’t forget to look behind you at the peak of Mt. Hood!
Meadows is great at setting expectations about what is going to be open the next day on their Conditions Page, especially if you want to do Heather Canyon and Private Reserve. We were disappointed conditions weren’t soft enough in January 2022.
But our timing was perfect in March 2023. Our first day in Private Reserve was a stormy day, which seemed to scare people away. There were very few tracks where we entered at the Elk/Yoda gate from Outrigger.
After doing Yoda Bowl, the cat track at the bottom took us past God’s Wall. We tried to do it on a different run, but we didn’t traverse far enough after entering at the God’s Wall gate.
Be careful at the bottom of Private Reserve. There is a crazy creek crossing, so you want to make sure you find a solid natural bridge. Before you hit the bottom, look for poles that mark the safest crossing points.
When you exit Private Reserve at the end of a very long cat track, you’ll be at the HRM Parking Lot. You can skate up another cat track that skirts the parking lot to Hood River Express, or you can walk through the parking lot. It seemed easiest to just walk through the parking lot.
On our second day, many came out for first chair. The line at Mt. Hood Express was longer than normal as Stadium Express and Cascade Express were closed. Plus, Heather Canyon and Private Reserve were on a delayed opening.
After a few runs, we came to the top of Shooting Star Express and ski patrol was just dropping the rope at Twilight Bowl. I was able to take my first-ever laps in Heather Canyon until the line at the Heather chair started backing up.
My least favorite part of doing Heather Canyon was the runout. Too many skiers and riders trying to keep their speed, so they don’t have to skate to the chair.
After Heather Canyon was tracked out, we headed to Private Reserve. There were less people and it was fun but not as good as the first day. The sun was trying to come out and the temperature was warming, so the snow was thickening up.
We had a memorable two days at Meadows, but one thing we noticed was how much skating we did compared to any other place we’d been all year. I was definitely using my poles and pushing off my skis more, and Kyle was unstrapping more often than he’s used to. Maybe we were doing the mountain wrong, but it’s worth noting.
Working Remotely at Meadows
If you’re working remotely, we had no problems using our AT&T hotspot in the Sunrise Lot in March 2023 on a Tuesday and Wednesday. However, in January 2022, Verizon and AT&T service were unreliable for us in the Sunrise Lot on a Saturday. I’m wondering if service was better for us in 2023 because there were less people around.
AT&T and Verizon works well for us without a cellular signal booster in the Main Parking Lot. We can send and receive texts and emails, and browse online.
Service is unreliable for us in the HRM Lot.
AT&T and Verizon service is excellent in the heart of Government Camp, Sandy, and Hood River.
Where to Sleep in Your Van/RV
Mt. Hood Meadows allows overnight RV parking for self-contained RVs on a first-come, first-served basis in the Sunrise Lot. For more information, go to Mt. Hood Meadows’ Winter Overnight RV Parking page. Electric, water, and sewer hookups are not available, there is no on-site dump station, and no place to dispose of trash. Plan on packing everything out. There are a few port-a-potties on-site.
An Oregon Sno-Park permit is required to stay overnight. We last paid $25 for an annual permit during the 2022/23 winter season. Go here for more information, including where to purchase yours. The Oregon Sno-Park permit is recognized by California and Idaho so that you can enjoy Sno-Parks in those states as well.
In addition to having an Oregon Sno-Park permit, you must also request a parking permit from Meadows once you are on-site, not before. You can do so online at the bottom of the page here.
Weekends are extremely popular, and I’m unsure when you have to get there to score a weekend spot. RVs are packed in like sardines and sometimes parked two deep. I assume where one RV is blocking another, people know each other. You’re going to be very intimate with your neighbor!
The first time we tried to camp at Meadows was in February 2022 in the late afternoon on a Saturday. We hung around for a little while, hoping sites would open up when people finished riding that day, with no luck. We also gave up prematurely because an older rig turned on its engine and suffocated everyone with a black cloud of diesel exhaust. We both ended up nauseous with a nasty headache.
In March 2023, we had a much easier time finding a spot in the mid-afternoon on a Sunday.
The Sunrise Lot is not ski-out. You must hike up the runout located to the right of RV row in the Sunrise lot, which will take you to the bottom of the Vista Express lift.
If you need to go to the ticket window, it’s about a half mile walk with a 200-foot elevation gain. Alternatively, a shuttle goes to the Main Parking Lot when RVers are present in the Sunrise Lot. The buses were lined up every morning before 9 am next to a sandwich board sign that said “Bus to Lodge”.
To ski back to the parking lot, follow the signs around the mountain.
If you don’t want to ski back to the Sunrise Lot, you can also catch the bus at the Main Lodge. Just look for the sandwich board that says “Bus to Lots”.
For more camping options, information about conveniences, and sightseeing ideas near Meadows, see our full guide to Mount Hood.
Other Ski Areas on Mount Hood
- Timberline Lodge & Ski Area (Powder Alliance 2023/24) – 15.7 miles / 30 minutes
- Mt. Hood Skibowl (Powder Alliance 2023/24) – 11.9 miles / 20 minutes
- Cooper Spur Mountain Resort (Indy Pass 2023/24) – 14.7 miles / 25 minutes
