Bend or Jackson Hole?

Neither town is a swimming destination, but water plays a bigger part in a Bend summer. The Deschutes runs right through town, so floating on an inner tube past the Old Mill District or paddling by the riverside lawns is part of an ordinary afternoon. The Cascade Lakes add cold, clear swims in August.

Jackson Hole's water is colder still. Shallow, sandy String Lake is the one real swim, and it only warms in late summer. The snowmelt-fed Snake is for rafting and floats, not for a dip.

The two eat at about the same level, but in different ways. Bend runs on beer: brewpubs with big menus, food-cart pods around fire pits, and a modest set of Pacific Northwest farm-to-table restaurants downtown and in the Old Mill District.

Jackson Hole leans on game and money. Elk, bison and Rocky Mountain trout, often with huckleberries, appear in chef-driven dining rooms and steakhouses around the Town Square, and there are some serious wine lists. Almost nothing is cheap, though, and there is little street food to match Bend's carts.

Bend's sights are about the high desert and the people who lived in it. The High Desert Museum south of town can fill half a day with live animals, Indigenous heritage and pioneer life, and the logging-town story is told in an old stone schoolhouse. The restored Tower Theatre and the reused mill smokestacks fill out the rest of an afternoon.

Jackson Hole leans towards art and scenery. The National Museum of Wildlife Art looks down over the elk refuge, the Town Square has its antler arches, and in the park the Mormon Row barns and the log chapel stand against the Tetons. Neither list is long, and a day between hikes covers either one.

Neither town stays up late, and neither has clubs. In Bend an evening means a brewpub or a food-cart courtyard, often with people still in their hiking gear, plus a short run of cocktail and dive bars downtown on summer weekends.

Jackson Hole's nights are more seasonal and more Western. In winter the après-ski bars in Teton Village get loud as the lifts close, and in town a historic saloon has saddles for bar stools and a country dance floor. In spring and autumn its bars can be almost empty.

Both are outstanding mountain bases, but Jackson Hole has the bigger landscape. The Tetons rise with no foothills, Grand Teton National Park starts a few minutes from town and Yellowstone is about an hour and a half away. Moose, bison, bald eagles and bears are part of daily life there, and the Teton Village tram reaches some of the steepest lift-served terrain in North America.

Bend's strength is the variety close to town. Mountain-bike singletrack starts at the edge of town, the Deschutes River Trail passes waterfalls and lava canyons, Mount Bachelor is half an hour away and Smith Rock offers sport climbing. In the shoulder seasons you can ski and bike on the same day.

From both towns most outings go into the landscape rather than to other towns, but Bend has a little more to visit. Sisters, half an hour away, is a pleasant Western main street of galleries and bakeries. Sunriver adds a nature centre and observatory, and the museum on the Warm Springs reservation covers the region's tribes.

From Jackson Hole, the drives over Teton Pass to Victor and Driggs or south to the ranch towns are pleasant, but none is worth a full day on its own. The real interest stays inside the national parks.

Both suit active families, and neither has a zoo, aquarium or theme park. What differs is the kind of day. Bend offers short, easy outings close to town: floating the Deschutes, exploring the Lava River Cave with a lantern, and seeing the otters and raptors at the High Desert Museum.

Jackson Hole gives bigger moments: moose and bison from the car, Junior Ranger badges, a sleigh ride through the elk herd and the summer rodeo. But the drives into the parks are long, and the altitude can tire young children.

Bend is the better town for a bicycle. A riverside path links downtown and the Old Mill District, and trails and quiet streets make cycling a real way to get around the core. Its buses are of little use to visitors apart from the seasonal ski shuttle to Mount Bachelor, and most people fly into the small airport at Redmond.

Jackson Hole has the handier airport, inside the national park a short drive from town, and a bus to Teton Village, about 20km away, that is most useful in ski season. Beyond that, a car matters just as much as in Bend. There is no public transport into the parks, and winter roads call for care and good tyres.

Jackson Hole has the more distinctive shopping. The covered boardwalks around the Town Square are lined with galleries of Western and wildlife art, and there are handmade cowboy hats, boots, turquoise jewellery and high-end mountain gear.

Bend is more practical. It has chain stores in the converted mill buildings, a few streets of independent boutiques downtown, and very good outdoor gear shops, including consignment stores for used equipment.

This is the clearest gap between them. Bend is not cheap, and prices climb in summer and on ski weekends, but it is far easier on the budget than Jackson Hole. Food carts and quiet midweek stays in spring and autumn bring costs down further.

Jackson Hole is one of the most expensive places to stay in the country. Rooms are scarce, and meals, lift tickets, car hire and guided trips all cost resort prices. Trails and roadside wildlife are free once you arrive, and staying over the pass in Idaho helps.

Bend has more live music through the year. In summer its riverside amphitheatre in the Old Mill District hosts touring rock, folk and country acts and there are free concerts in the parks. The restored Tower Theatre keeps comedy, touring musicians and local productions going in the colder months.

Jackson Hole has the finer single event. The Grand Teton Music Festival, running since the 1960s, brings players from leading American orchestras to Teton Village for several summer weeks of classical concerts. Outside that season, though, there is little beyond community theatre and bar bands.

Jackson Hole is the better place to rest, mainly because of its natural hot springs. One is a pool in a forested canyon south of town, reached by snowmobile or dog sled in winter. The other is a park of soaking pools on the Snake River that is easy to drive to.

In Bend, relaxing usually means a hot tub after a ski or bike day, or a resort spa around Sunriver. Its own hot springs, at Paulina Lake in the Newberry caldera, are primitive pools reached on foot.