Bend or Moab?

Neither town is a beach destination, but Bend has more water to enjoy. In summer people float through town on the Deschutes, past the Old Mill District and the riverside lawns. A short drive west, Elk Lake and Sparks Lake have sandy and rocky shores for a cold, clear swim in August.

Moab's options are smaller and need more care. There are the shallow pools of Mill Creek, Ken's Lake south of town and the sandbars of a fast, silty Colorado River. For most visitors, a swim means the motel pool after a hike.

Bend eats and drinks noticeably better. Its many breweries give a day a natural route to follow, and evenings at food-cart pods with fire pits and beer taps are part of the fun. Downtown and the Old Mill District add some solid farm-to-table cooking based on Pacific Northwest produce.

Moab's Main Street is about filling up after a day outdoors: big portions of burgers, tacos and pizza, plus a few more ambitious places with Southwestern touches. Utah's alcohol rules make a drink with dinner more formal than many travellers expect, the choice shrinks in winter, and spring and autumn evenings bring queues.

Neither town is a place to come for culture, but Bend gives you more to do on a day off the trails, and most of it is indoors. The High Desert Museum on the southern edge of town is a proper outing on its own, with live animals among displays on the tribes, settlers and wildlife of the dry plateau. Add a few streets of old brick and the sawmill chimneys by the river, and you get a sense of where the town came from.

Moab's heritage is out in the open and far older. Ancient rock art is carved and painted on canyon walls a short drive from Main Street, so you see it on the way to a trailhead rather than as an outing in itself. Beyond that and a dinosaur trackway or two, the town has only a small local museum, and you will soon run out of things to see.

Bend has a real evening scene, even if it starts early. Taprooms and food-cart courtyards fill with people still in their hiking gear, and a short run of downtown cocktail bars and dive bars stays busy on summer weekends.

In Moab there are a couple of brewpubs and a few Main Street bars full of rafters and mountain bikers, and the town is mostly asleep by eleven. The better night out there is lying back under one of the darkest, starriest skies you are likely to see.

Both are first-rate outdoor bases, and the difference is the landscape. Bend sits where the high desert meets the volcanic Cascades: snowy peaks, alpine lakes for paddling, the Three Sisters Wilderness, sport climbing at Smith Rock and the lava fields and caves of Newberry. With skiing in winter and lakes in summer, it works all year round.

Moab is red-rock country. Arches lies minutes from town, the Canyonlands overlooks are less than an hour away, and you can ride the Slickrock Trail, raft the Colorado or go canyoneering. The landscape is more spectacular than Bend's, but it is a spring and autumn destination, because summer heat cuts the hiking day short.

Both towns lead out into landscape rather than to other places, but Bend's outings are closer and easier. Sisters, with its western-style main street, is half an hour away, Sunriver has a nature centre and observatory, and the tribal museum at Warm Springs is a comfortable morning's drive.

Moab's most rewarding cultural day out is long: south to the Edge of the Cedars ruins at Blanding and the stone towers of Hovenweep, with the old stone houses of Bluff on the way. Grand Junction's wineries take most of two hours.

Bend is the more forgiving choice with children. Summer river floats, the Lava River Cave, otters and raptors at the High Desert Museum, splashing in the shallows at Drake Park and a beginner ski area cover a wide range of ages. You still need a car for most of it.

Moab can thrill school-age children who love scrambling, with the short walk to Sand Dune Arch, dinosaur tracks, calm raft floats and the Junior Ranger programmes. But summer heat, long unfenced drops and long drives make it a poor fit for toddlers.

You will want a car in both places, but Bend is easier without one for part of the stay. A riverside path links downtown and the Old Mill District, cycling on trails and quiet streets is comfortable, and a seasonal shuttle runs up to Mount Bachelor.

In Moab, Main Street is walkable and a paved path lets you cycle to the Arches entrance, but that is all. The parks are spread along long desert roads, trailheads are often reached on dirt tracks, and visitors without a vehicle depend on outfitters' shuttles and tours. A high-clearance car reaches far more of the backcountry.

Bend has more range. There are mainstream chain stores in the old mill buildings, a few streets of independent boutiques and galleries downtown, and very good ski, bike and climbing shops with consignment stores for used gear. Oregon has no sales tax.

Moab is mostly gear and souvenirs, but its souvenirs are more distinctive: rock shops selling geodes and fossils, and galleries with Navajo jewellery and weavings.

Neither is a cheap vacation, and costs run at much the same level. The difference is where you can save. Bend's peaks are summer and ski weekends, so a spring or autumn midweek stay helps, and so do food-cart meals and the absence of sales tax.

Moab charges resort prices for simple motel rooms in spring and autumn, and rafting or jeep tours add up quickly. Campers do far better there, with cheap public campgrounds, free dispersed camping and a park pass that lasts a week. Winter is much cheaper.

Bend has a real calendar. Touring rock, folk and country acts play the riverside amphitheatre in the Old Mill District through the summer, free concerts take place in the parks, and the Tower Theatre hosts comedy, music and local productions year round.

Moab has little apart from one standout event: the Moab Music Festival at the end of summer, which stages chamber concerts in canyon grottoes reached by boat. Be there for it and you will remember it. At any other time, expect a band in a brewpub at most.

After a day on the slopes or the trails, Bend lets you sink into hot water. It has day spas in town, larger resort spas around Sunriver and the golf resorts, soaking pools at a few lodgings, and primitive hot springs at Paulina Lake in the Newberry caldera that you reach on foot.

Moab offers stillness rather than treatments. Apart from a few massage studios, mostly booked by cyclists with sore legs, there are quiet desert evenings and the slow red glow on the cliffs at sunset. If you want real rest, a remote ranch or a cabin in the La Sal Mountains suits better than a room in town.