Big Bear Lake or Steamboat Springs?

You would not plan either trip around swimming, but Big Bear at least has a lake you can get into easily. It has a supervised swim beach at Meadow Park and sandy patches between the granite, and boats, kayaks and paddleboards fill the rest of the day.

Steamboat's water is colder and further from town: Steamboat Lake and Stagecoach reservoirs in high summer, or tubing the Yampa through town, which is a float rather than a swim.

Both eat like ski towns, but Steamboat has a little more range. Lincoln Avenue and the base area add steakhouses, lamb and beef from the valley's ranches and a couple of more ambitious kitchens to the usual Mexican places and pizza.

Big Bear offers log-cabin diners, burgers, barbecue and brewpubs in the Village, with lake views from a few tables, and many visitors simply cook in their cabins. Neither is worth the journey for its food.

Neither is a sightseeing town, though Steamboat has a little more of its past to see: western storefronts on Lincoln Avenue, the Tread of Pioneers Museum in its Victorian house, and Howelsen Hill, one of the oldest ski areas in North America. Big Bear's history lies out in Holcomb Valley, where remains of the 1860s gold rush can be followed on a dirt-road drive, while the Village itself is modern chalet-style building.

Steamboat has a proper evening routine in season: après-ski at the gondola base, then saloons and brewpubs on Lincoln Avenue that stay busy into the late evening. Big Bear winds down sooner. It has a few après-ski bars, pubs and a sports bar, and most nights end in a cabin hot tub. Neither has clubs.

Both are true mountain bases, and in both the ski slopes become bike trails in summer. Steamboat has the bigger and better-known mountain, with dry Champagne Powder and aspen glades, plus backcountry at Rabbit Ears Pass, Nordic skiing across the valley and the Mount Zirkel Wilderness for long backpacking trips.

Big Bear's skiing is more modest and relies on snowmaking, so the lake is its strength: sailing, fishing and paddling below pine forest, with the Pacific Crest Trail on the north shore and San Gorgonio, Southern California's highest summit, close by. Bald eagles winter at Big Bear, and moose and elk are common around Steamboat.

Neither is a base for touring, but Big Bear has more within a morning's drive. Lake Arrowhead along the Rim of the World road, the orchards of Oak Glen and the citrus-era streets of Riverside all make a day out, and Palm Springs or Los Angeles are possible at a stretch.

From Steamboat the nearby places are small ranching towns, and Vail or Denver mean hours of mountain driving, so outings there head into the hills rather than to other towns.

Both work well for families, in different ways. Big Bear is built around a first sight of snow for lowland children, with sledding hills and snow-play areas, plus the Big Bear Alpine Zoo, an alpine slide, go-karts and pedal boats on the lake.

Steamboat suits children who already want to ski. It has a strong ski school, Howelsen Hill for first turns, and warm pools and slides at Old Town Hot Springs for the afternoons, but no zoo or similar attractions. In both towns the altitude takes some getting used to.

Steamboat is easier once you arrive. Its downtown is flat and walkable, many slopeside lodgings are a short walk from the gondola, and a town bus links the two centres all day. You still need a car for the hot springs and trailheads.

Big Bear depends more on driving. The Village is walkable and a seasonal trolley helps, but the cabins are scattered along hilly forest roads, and the steep highways up can crawl, with chains needed in snow. Steamboat's own drawback is distance: a regional flight or a long drive over the passes.

Steamboat's Lincoln Avenue has more character, with western-wear stores selling boots and hats, a family outfitter dating from the early twentieth century and a few art galleries. Big Bear's Village offers fudge, bear souvenirs and some antique and home-decor shops. In both, shopping fills a pleasant hour and no more.

Big Bear costs less, above all for a group or family sharing a cabin with a kitchen, midweek or in the shoulder seasons. Visitors from Southern California can also drive up rather than fly. Rates still jump sharply on winter weekends and in school vacations.

Steamboat charges resort prices for everything in ski season, and the Christmas and spring-break weeks cost the most. Summer and the quieter seasons are easier on the wallet, but the town is expensive all year.

In summer, Steamboat has a proper music season. The Strings Music Festival brings chamber music, jazz and bluegrass to its pavilion, and Perry-Mansfield, founded in 1913, puts on student theatre and dance. Big Bear manages free concerts by the lake, a community stage and its Oktoberfest beer hall with Bavarian bands. In winter, both come down to bands in the bars.

This is one of the clearest differences. Steamboat is built on hot springs, from the spring-fed pools of Old Town Hot Springs in town to Strawberry Park Hot Springs up a mountain road, where rock-lined pools sit in a wooded creek valley and are at their best on a snowy evening.

Big Bear has no thermal water, so relaxing means the private hot tub and wood stove of a rented cabin, a deck among the pines and a few day spas. It is restful midweek, much less so on busy winter weekends.