[3] The Villages at Mount Hood is the name of the combined government of several of the communities encompassed by the CDP and is a separate entity.

The Villages at Mount Hood was the first established village under Clackamas County's "Complete Communities" ordinance, which allows unincorporated communities to form quasi-governments that allow them to have more direct control regarding the issues and activities that affect them.

According to the village's official website, the communities united to form the village because the Oregon Department of Transportation required that the towns create a "governmental agency" in order to continue getting grants for the growing Mount Hood Express bus system.

The "Complete Communities" ordinance makes villages and hamlets official agencies of the county.

[citation needed] According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 26.1 square miles (67.7 km2), all land.