Big Bear Lake or Scottsdale?

Neither is a beach destination, but at Big Bear Lake you can at least swim where you are staying. The lake stays cool even in high summer, and the small swim beach at Meadow Park is the one supervised spot along a mostly rocky shore of granite outcrops. Boats and paddleboards still matter more than swimming.

Scottsdale has no natural water in town, so swimming means the resort pool. Saguaro Lake and Canyon Lake have small sandy coves but take most of an hour to reach, and tubing down the Salt River is a summer outing rather than a beach day.

Scottsdale gives you much more choice. Old Town's steakhouses, sushi bars and patio grills are polished rather than distinctive, but Sonoran-style Mexican cooking, with carne asada, huge flour tortillas and green chile, is a real local taste, and Phoenix's more characterful kitchens are a short drive away.

Big Bear Lake eats like a ski town: diner breakfasts, burgers, pizza and a brewpub pint, with plain menus and queues on winter weekends. Many visitors just cook in their rented cabin.

Scottsdale has the sights, led by Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West and its guided tours. It adds a museum of the American West, a small but sharp contemporary art museum and galleries of Native American art, with the Heard Museum and the Musical Instrument Museum close by.

Big Bear Lake has the Discovery Center, a small history museum and the gold-rush remains of Holcomb Valley along a dirt-road drive, and not much else. Nobody should choose it for museums or architecture.

For a night out, only Scottsdale is worth considering. Old Town's entertainment district packs patio bars, dance clubs and rooftop lounges into a few loud blocks that stay busy until 2am at weekends and through spring, with calmer cocktail and wine bars around the edges.

In Big Bear Lake the evening is a brewpub or some après-ski in season, then a hot tub and an early night. There are no clubs and nothing runs late.

Both are outdoor places, but Big Bear Lake offers more. It has a lake for kayaks, sailing and fishing, and pine forest crossed by the Pacific Crest Trail, with short hikes such as Castle Rock and the San Gorgonio Wilderness nearby. Two ski areas operate in winter, and their runs become bike trails in summer.

Scottsdale's strength is the Sonoran Desert on its doorstep: saguaro trails through the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, steep climbs up Camelback and Pinnacle Peak, and riding and desert lakes further east. It is superb from autumn to spring. In summer, though, hiking is possible only at dawn, while summer is Big Bear's easiest season outdoors.

Scottsdale is the better base for outings. Sedona's red rocks, the cliff dwelling at Montezuma Castle and the hillside mining town of Jerome all lie on one route north. Tucson and the San Xavier mission are to the south, and Goldfield ghost town and the Apache Trail make an easy half-day.

From Big Bear Lake every trip starts on slow mountain roads. Lake Arrowhead and the Oak Glen orchards are about an hour away and Riverside's Mission Inn a little further, but Palm Springs and Los Angeles mean a long day.

Both suit families well, but they offer very different kinds of fun. Big Bear Lake is about snow for children who rarely see it: sledding hills and beginner ski lessons in winter, then the alpine slide and pedal boats in summer, plus the small Alpine Zoo with its rescued bears and bobcats. Roomy cabins with kitchens make the stay easy.

In Scottsdale a family stay centres on resort pools with lazy rivers and kids' clubs, with outings to the miniature trains at McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park, the aquarium and Butterfly Wonderland. In Scottsdale the summer heat keeps children indoors at midday. At Big Bear the things to watch are the thin air and cold nights.

Neither works without a car, but Big Bear Lake is easier once you have arrived. The town is small, the Village is walkable, and a local bus and a seasonal trolley reach the ski areas and parts of the lakeshore. The hard part is the steep drive up, which in winter can need snow chains.

Scottsdale is long and spread out along wide arterial roads, and the regional light rail does not reach it, so resorts, trailheads and the airport all mean driving or ride-hailing. Old Town and its free trolley cover only a small part of a stay, though the grid and plentiful parking make driving simple.

Scottsdale is a real shopping destination. It has a large luxury mall with the fashion houses and open-air centres further north, while Old Town's gallery district sells southwestern art, Navajo and Hopi silver, Pueblo pottery and western boots. Big Bear Lake has a few Village blocks of fudge shops, bear souvenirs and outfitters renting ski and lake gear, pleasant for an hour and no more.

Neither is cheap, and in both the calendar decides the cost. Big Bear Lake is best value midweek and in the shoulder seasons, when a group or family shares a cabin and cooks. It costs most on winter weekends, when lift tickets and gear hire add up.

Scottsdale works the other way round. Its winter and spring high season is expensive, but resorts cut their rates sharply in the summer heat, and motels and Mexican food help keep a careful budget manageable. In both places hiking is free.

Scottsdale has a proper programme. Its Old Town performing arts centre and the world-music concerts at the Musical Instrument Museum are close by, and the symphony, opera and ballet perform in Phoenix, with touring Broadway at Tempe's Gammage. Big Bear Lake has a community stage, free summer concerts by the lake and Bavarian bands at Oktoberfest, which are pleasant extras but not a reason to go.

Scottsdale is built around rest. Its large resort spas, many open to day guests, have outdoor pools, steam rooms and long treatment menus among palms and dry desert air. The comfort is polished and private, since the city has no historic baths or bathing tradition.

Big Bear Lake's version is the cabin itself, with a wood stove, a deck in the pines and often a private hot tub. There are a few day spas but no destination spa, and busy winter weekends are far from restful.