The day pass for Washington snow parks is way more expensive than in Oregon--$22! And they patrol all the snow parks up by trout lake, so you can expect to get a ticket if you don't buy a parking pass.
I took my daughter cross country skiing at the end of March and the snow was extremely thin and variable. There wasn't enough left on the ground for the trails to be groomed. This was at the same time that Hood was getting buried in snow. So, I guess this is only a good ski spot when there is tons of snow at lower elevations.
Otherwise, this area was very pretty and felt wild compared to Hood. The terrain is fairly gentle with rolling hills. We were out for several hours and only encountered four people on the trails. The parking lot was mostly being used by snow mobilers, but they are restricted to different routes.