Big Bear Lake or Winter Park, Colorado?

Neither place is a beach destination, but only Big Bear Lake gives you a real summer swim. The lake warms to around 19°C in midsummer, there is a supervised swim beach at Meadow Park for children, and granite outcrops along the rocky shore are good for a quick dip.

Winter Park's nearest water, at Grand Lake and the Granby reservoirs, is cold snowmelt that people paddle on rather than swim in. There, a swim means a hotel pool or the hot springs pools further down the valley.

Both serve plain ski-town food rather than a cuisine, so neither is a reason to choose between them. Big Bear leans towards log-cabin diner breakfasts, Mexican plates and a few lakeside tables with water views, and many visitors cook in their cabins. Winter Park adds a Rocky Mountain touch, with green chile, breakfast burritos before the lifts open and a few dinner rooms serving elk and trout.

There is little to see in either town. Big Bear's history is the 1860s gold rush in Holcomb Valley, which you can trace on a dirt-road drive past old cabins and mining remains, and the Discovery Center explains the forest. Winter Park's heritage lies in the Moffat Tunnel railway and the homesteading story told at the ranch museum in Fraser, and for anything bigger, Denver's museums are the nearest option.

Evenings end early in both places, and neither has clubs. Winter Park's après-ski is noisier: bars at the base village are crowded when the lifts close, and winter weekends and spring-break weeks get loud before the town goes quiet. In Big Bear the night out is a brewpub or sports bar in the Village, and more often a fire and the hot tub at your cabin.

Both are genuine mountain bases, but Winter Park plays on a larger scale. Its ski area covers two connected mountains, from Winter Park's groomed cruisers to the bumps and tree runs of Mary Jane, with summits above 3,600m, a season that often runs well into spring, cross-country tracks and backcountry on Berthoud Pass. In summer you get a renowned bike park and Rocky Mountain National Park about an hour north.

Big Bear's skiing is modest but reliable, and it relies on snowmaking. Its strength is the lake, used for fishing, sailing and paddling, along with short hikes to Castle Rock and Cougar Crest, the Pacific Crest Trail, the San Gorgonio Wilderness and wintering bald eagles. Its drier summers also give you steadier hiking weather than Winter Park's afternoon storms.

Winter Park has better outings within reach. Over Berthoud Pass, the Victorian mining towns of Georgetown and Idaho Springs, with brick main streets and a narrow-gauge railway loop, are about an hour away, Grand Lake has its wooden boardwalk, and Denver and Boulder can be done in a day when the pass is clear.

From Big Bear, the winding roads make every trip slow. Lake Arrowhead is about an hour away, the Oak Glen orchards are good in autumn, and Riverside's Mission Inn is about an hour and a half. Los Angeles and Palm Springs are long days, so most visitors stay on the mountain.

For lowland children seeing snow for the first time, Big Bear is hard to beat. It has sledding hills and snow-play areas, the Alpine Zoo's rescued bears and bobcats, and pedal boats in summer, and roomy cabins make the stay easy. At about 2,000m, it also sits lower.

Winter Park suits families who want their children to really learn to ski. It has a large children's ski school, gentle slopes at the base and a compact village close to the lifts, plus tubing, sleigh rides and skating. On the downside, at around 2,700m the altitude can disturb sleep for the first night or two, and the cold is sharper.

In Big Bear, plan to drive almost everywhere. The Village is walkable and a seasonal trolley serves the ski areas, but most cabins are scattered along hilly forest roads, so errands and trailheads mean taking the car, and the steep highways up can need chains in winter.

Once you are in Winter Park, it is easier to leave the car parked. A free shuttle links the ski base, the town and Fraser, so you can do a ski week without driving, although trailheads, Grand Lake and the national park still need a car. The drive over Berthoud Pass from Denver needs proper winter tyres in snow.

Shopping is equally thin in both, and it is a different kind. Big Bear's Village has a few blocks of fudge shops, bear-themed souvenirs and a handful of antique and home-decor shops to browse. Winter Park's shops are practical: ski tuning, bike shops and outdoor clothing. For anything more, you head down to the valley from Big Bear and to Denver from Winter Park.

Big Bear Lake is the more affordable trip, especially midweek or in the shoulder seasons, when a shared cabin with a kitchen keeps costs reasonable. Winter weekends push its rates up sharply.

Winter Park charges Colorado resort prices for lift tickets, lessons, slopeside lodging and meals, with little cheap everyday food to fall back on. It becomes much easier on the budget in summer, or if you stay in a condo in Fraser.

Neither town offers much on stage, and what they have differs a little. Big Bear has a small community arts centre with local theatre, free summer concerts by the lake and a long-running autumn Oktoberfest with Bavarian bands. Winter Park's live music is free concerts in the town park in summer and bands in the après-ski bars, with Denver the place for theatre.

Winter Park is the better place to recover. Hot Sulphur Springs, about half an hour west, has mineral pools at different temperatures stepping down a hillside, the resort and a nearby guest ranch have spas for sore legs, and late spring and autumn are especially quiet.

Big Bear has no thermal springs. Relaxing there means the private hot tub and wood stove at your rental, a few day spas in town and quiet midweek days, although busy winter weekends are far from restful.