Hoodoo's summit reaches 5,702 feet, dropping 1,033 vertical feet to a base at 4,669 feet across 36 runs spread over 806 acres near Santiam Pass in the central Oregon Cascades. Terrain splits 42 per cent intermediate, 31 per cent advanced, 19 per cent beginner and 8 per cent expert, with average annual snowfall of roughly 323 inches. The resort carries Indy Pass affiliation. Twelve lifts, including four quad chairs and three triple chairs, serve the mountain alongside five surface lifts.

Hoodoo sits on a volcanic cinder cone, Hoodoo Butte, within the Willamette National Forest, giving it a distinctly central Oregon character relative to the state's larger Mount Hood resorts. Its comparatively affordable pricing and lack of major crowds have made it a value-focused alternative for skiers travelling from Bend and the surrounding central Oregon communities. The resort's substantial snowfall total, exceeding 320 inches annually, supports reliable conditions through a long winter season.

The ski area was built in 1938 by a group funded by Ed Thurston of Bend, who had originally hoped to develop nearby Three Fingered Jack but could not secure funding for the necessary access road. Following the Second World War, the resort expanded with lodging and chairlifts, including a three-story main lodge built in the late 1940s from surplus wartime structures. In the 1960s, the ski area was purchased by Hoodoo Ski Bowl Developers, Inc., which went on to build the Manzanita chairlift.

In 1999, real estate developer Chuck Shepard of Eugene, through his company Umbrella Properties, acquired Hoodoo Ski Area. Since then, the resort has added the Hodag chairlift, a 60,000-square-foot lodge and the Autobahn Tubing Park, and has replaced its older green and red double chairlifts with quad chairs. Adult daily tickets run from 65 to 75 US dollars, with a season pass at 499 dollars.