Big Sky or Estes Park?

Neither town is a place for swimming, and both are a long way from any coast. The water you find is different in kind. At Big Sky it is the fast, rocky, cold Gallatin River, plus a few ponds good for a quick paddle on a hot afternoon. Estes Park has Lake Estes and the alpine lakes of the park for walks along the shore and for fishing, and an indoor aquatic centre in town, which Big Sky lacks beyond hotel pools.

The two eat much alike: hearty mountain cooking with elk, bison and a solid brewery culture, a narrow range, and shorter hours outside the main season. What differs is the setting. Big Sky's dining is spread across its villages and the canyon roadhouses, and a few lodge and hotel kitchens aim higher, though at resort prices.

Estes Park is a gateway town. It runs on family diners, burger and barbecue places and the taffy and fudge shops along Elkhorn Avenue. For a serious meal, Big Sky visitors drive to Bozeman and Estes Park visitors go down to Boulder or Denver.

Estes Park has more history to show. The Stanley Hotel, built by the steam-car inventor F.O. Stanley and the inspiration for The Shining, is worth a tour. The town museum and the working MacGregor Ranch below Lumpy Ridge can fill a wet afternoon.

Big Sky has been built as a ski resort since the 1970s, and almost all of it is lodges and condos. Its one piece of heritage is the pair of log cabins at Crail Ranch in Meadow Village. In neither place is culture the reason to go.

Big Sky has the livelier evenings, though only in winter. Après-ski on the sunny decks at the base of the lifts in Mountain Village is a real social scene. Afterwards a few taverns in Town Center stay open, and the Gallatin Canyon has old saloons with pool tables and a ranch-country crowd.

Estes Park's evenings come down to a brewery taproom or a saloon-style bar on Elkhorn Avenue, and little goes on past ten. Neither has clubs, and Big Sky goes almost silent in spring and autumn.

Both have outstanding mountain country, but of different kinds. Big Sky is about the ski mountain and wild country around it: Lone Peak's steep runs in winter, then lift-served mountain biking and trails into the Spanish Peaks and Lee Metcalf Wilderness in summer. The Gallatin River offers fly fishing and rafting, and Yellowstone's geysers and wolves are about an hour south.

Estes Park is a national park town. Trails run from Bear Lake to the high lakes and Longs Peak, Trail Ridge Road climbs over alpine tundra, and the autumn elk rut fills the meadows at dusk. Climbers have Lumpy Ridge. Winter there is quiet snowshoeing rather than skiing.

Estes Park has the better choice of outings. Boulder, with its Pearl Street mall under the Flatirons, and Fort Collins, with its Old Town and breweries, are each about an hour away. Denver's museums are a little further. In summer, Trail Ridge Road takes you over to Grand Lake.

From Big Sky the great day out is Yellowstone, and that is a nature trip. For towns there is Bozeman with its Museum of the Rockies and dinosaur fossils, and further off the gold-rush boardwalks of Virginia City and Nevada City, about two hours away.

Both suit outdoor families, with Estes Park slightly easier. Its elk wander through town, the park runs junior ranger activities, and Sprague and Bear lakes have flat walks. In town there is mini golf, go-karts and the tramway up Prospect Mountain.

Big Sky is the stronger winter choice, with a ski school and gentle beginner slopes, and in summer the base turns into an adventure park with zip lines and ropes courses. Both towns sit at about 2,300m, which tires small children at first, and neither has museums for wet days.

Estes Park is the simpler of the two. Its downtown along Elkhorn Avenue and the Riverwalk is compact, and in the warmer months free shuttles run to the Bear Lake trailheads.

Big Sky is strung out along about 15km of road from the canyon up to Mountain Village. Its free bus links the villages, and ski-in lodgings make winter easy, but you can't walk between them. Both really need a car for anything beyond: Yellowstone from Big Sky, the plains and Trail Ridge Road from Estes Park.

Neither is a shopping destination, but Estes Park gives you a better hour of browsing. Elkhorn Avenue has western wear, taffy makers, wildlife photography and Native American-style jewellery among the souvenir shops. Big Sky's shops are mostly for ski and fishing gear, along with a few Western boutiques and wildlife art galleries. For real shopping you drive to Bozeman from one and to Boulder or Denver from the other.

Big Sky is the far bigger outlay, and it starts with where you sleep. Slopeside lodgings and luxury resorts set the level in winter, when most people come, and lift passes, ski school, guided fishing and resort meals then pile up on top of the room. Staying down in the Gallatin Canyon or in Bozeman brings the lodging bill down, though it adds driving to every ski day.

Estes Park charges most in summer and early autumn, when hotels, cabins and lodges near the national park fill up. Outside that stretch the rooms ease off considerably, which narrows the gap further. A day on the trails or watching elk costs only the park entrance, while a day at Big Sky means another lift pass. Budget for a hire car in either town if you are not driving your own.

Big Sky has more on stage, for a resort its size. A performing arts centre in Meadow Village brings in touring musicians, chamber music and theatre through the winter, and summer adds free lawn concerts in Town Center and a short classical festival.

Estes Park's offer is mostly in summer and outdoors: concerts at the riverside performance park and evenings at the Stanley Hotel. The Scottish-Irish Highland Festival each September brings pipe bands and Celtic music. Outside those seasons, both towns send you to the nearest city for a concert hall.

Big Sky is better set up for pampering. Its large lodges have full-service spas with massages for ski-weary legs, and a hot tub after a day on the mountain comes as standard. Natural hot springs lie about an hour away towards Bozeman.

Estes Park's version is plainer: a few lodge spas and massage studios, and mostly the calm of a riverside cabin with elk at dusk. That calm is at its best in the quieter winter and spring months.