Bend or Big Bear Lake?

Neither town is a swimming destination. Both have cool mountain water for a quick dip on a summer afternoon, but the way you get in the water differs. In Bend it is the Deschutes River, which you float through town on an inner tube, plus cold, clear swims from the shores of Elk Lake and Sparks Lake.

At Big Bear the lake itself is the swimming spot. The shore is mostly rocky, and the small beach at Meadow Park is the one supervised place, which matters if you have children with you. Being on the water there usually means a kayak or a boat rather than a swim.

Bend eats noticeably better. Beer is at the centre: there are brewpubs to walk or cycle between and food-cart pods with fire pits for the evening. Downtown and the Old Mill District also have a fair few modern American kitchens using Pacific Northwest produce.

Big Bear offers ski-resort comfort food, with big diner breakfasts, burgers, pizza and Mexican plates, and queues on winter weekends. Many visitors end up cooking in their cabins. Neither town has much international food or fine dining.

Neither town is a place for sightseeing, but Bend at least has a half-day's worth. The High Desert Museum, with its Indigenous and pioneer history and live animals, is a proper cultural stop. There is also a historical museum in an old stone schoolhouse, plus the brick downtown and the old sawmill smokestacks.

Big Bear has even less: a forest discovery centre, a small history museum and a dirt-road drive past the gold-rush remains in Holcomb Valley. The Village is modern chalet-style building.

A night out in Bend can take in several places, all within walking distance downtown. You might start at a taproom, move on to a cocktail bar or a dive bar a couple of streets away, and often catch a local band playing in a brewpub. Even so, it is an early-to-bed town, and anyone hoping to dance will be disappointed.

At Big Bear it is one stop rather than several. After skiing there is a drink near the slopes or a pint in a Village pub or sports bar, and outside the ski season even that thins out. Most evenings end back at the cabin, and nothing stays open late.

Both are proper mountain bases, but Bend has the wider and more dramatic range. The volcanic Cascades give it Mount Bachelor's large, open ski terrain and the Three Sisters Wilderness, and Smith Rock is one of the country's great climbing areas. On top of that come the lava caves and obsidian fields at Newberry, and mountain-bike trails that start in town.

Big Bear has a forested alpine lake for fishing, sailing and paddling, two smaller but reliable ski areas, and the Pacific Crest Trail along its north shore. In winter you can watch bald eagles. It is plenty for a few active days, though the skiing is more modest than at Bachelor.

Day trips are thin from both, and they lead to different things. From Bend the outings are mostly to landscapes. Sisters is a western-style main street under the peaks, and Crater Lake and the Painted Hills each take a long day.

From Big Bear the winding roads make every trip slow, but they do reach other places. Lake Arrowhead is a smaller lake resort, Oak Glen has orchards, and Riverside has its Mission Inn and old citrus-era streets. Palm Springs and Los Angeles are long drives.

Both are easy, safe towns for children, and what you get depends on the season. Bend works best for active families in summer. There is the river to float, the Lava River Cave to explore with a lantern, and the otters and raptors at the High Desert Museum, but nearly every outing needs a car.

Big Bear is built for families and its trump card is snow: sledding hills and beginner lessons for children who have never seen it. The Alpine Zoo, alpine slide, go-karts and pedal boats fill the summer, and cabins with kitchens make the stay simple.

You will need a car in both. Bend's small downtown and Old Mill District are linked by a riverside path and are good for cycling, but the trailheads, lakes and Smith Rock all mean driving. Most visitors fly into the small regional airport at Redmond.

Big Bear is reached only by steep mountain highways, which may need snow chains in winter and crawl on long weekends. Once you are there, a local bus and a seasonal trolley link the Village with the ski areas.

Bend gives shoppers more to do. Its outdoor-gear shops for skiing, bikes, climbing and fishing are genuinely good, there are second-hand equipment stores, and downtown has independent boutiques and galleries. Oregon's lack of sales tax helps a little.

Big Bear's shopping is an hour's browse through the Village's fudge shops, bear souvenirs and rental outfitters.

Neither is cheap, and both reward going at the right time. In Bend, summer and ski-weekend rates climb, though food carts, free trails and the lack of sales tax soften the bill, and spring or autumn midweek stays cost less.

Big Bear swings harder with the calendar. Winter weekends bring high cabin rates and lift tickets, but a shared cabin midweek, with the group cooking for itself, can be fairly economical.

Bend has a real summer music season. Touring rock, folk and country acts play the riverside amphitheatre in the Old Mill District, and the restored Tower Theatre puts on comedy, music and film all year. A community symphony fills out the calendar.

Big Bear has local theatre at a small community centre, free concerts by the lake in summer and the Bavarian bands of its long-running autumn Oktoberfest.

Bend gives you more places to soak and unwind away from where you are staying: day spas in town, larger resort spas around Sunriver, and the primitive hot springs at Paulina Lake in the Newberry caldera, reached on foot. Still, it is a town where people come to be busy.

In Big Bear the cabin does the relaxing for you, with a private hot tub, a wood stove and a deck among the pines on a quiet midweek day. Busy winter weekends spoil the calm.