Big Sky or Mammoth Lakes?

Neither town has any beach life, but Mammoth Lakes at least gives you a swim. In July and August people take a cold dip at Horseshoe Lake in the Lakes Basin, and Crowley Lake, which sits lower, warms a little more.

In Big Sky the Gallatin is fast and icy even in midsummer, so a swim usually means the hotel pool.

Both feed you well after a day outside without being somewhere you go for the food. Big Sky leans into Montana: bison, elk, local beef and river trout, plus a few ambitious lodge kitchens. Its range is narrow, and for anything more varied you drive an hour to Bozeman.

Mammoth Lakes is more burgers, tacos, pizza and steakhouses, and because it caters to a big winter crowd the choice is a little wider. In both towns some places cut back between seasons.

Neither has much to see, because both grew up as ski resorts. Big Sky's one piece of heritage is the pair of log cabins at the Crail Ranch homestead in Meadow Village. Mammoth's small log-cabin museum tells the story of its mining camp. In both places the history worth a visit is an hour or more away.

Evenings in both are après-ski and then an early night. The difference is in the setting. Big Sky has old Gallatin Canyon saloons with pool tables and a ranch-country crowd, while Mammoth has brewery taprooms in town, and on long ski weekends it can stay up later. Neither has clubs, and both are very quiet in spring and autumn.

These are two of North America's great mountain bases, and they differ in character rather than quality. Big Sky has the steep, high terrain of Lone Peak, the Spanish Peaks and Lee Metcalf Wilderness for hiking, and the Gallatin for fly fishing and rafting. Its trump card is Yellowstone's geysers and wildlife, about an hour south.

Mammoth's country is volcanic and dry. The ski season often lasts into early summer, the granite lakes of the Lakes Basin are right above town, and nearby are the basalt columns of Devils Postpile, Mono Lake's tufa towers and, once Tioga Pass opens, Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite.

Both regions have gold-rush history, but what lies within reach differs. From Big Sky you can drive to an actual town: Bozeman is an hour away, with a Western main street and the dinosaur fossils of the Museum of the Rockies. The boardwalks of Virginia City are further on.

From Mammoth the sites are more striking but the towns smaller. Bodie is a ghost town left as it decayed, and Manzanar is a moving wartime internment camp, while Bishop and June Lake are pleasant stops. Winter pass closures narrow the choice.

Children do well in both if the family likes the outdoors, and both share the same gaps: nothing for a wet day, and altitude that can tire small children at first. In Big Sky the summer adventure park, horse riding and spotting bison in Yellowstone are the highlights.

Mammoth adds a snow-tubing hill in winter and, in summer, rowing boats and trout fishing on the Lakes Basin. Condos with kitchens make family life simpler.

Mammoth Lakes is easier without a car. In winter, free shuttles link the lodging areas to the lift bases and a gondola runs from the Village up the mountain. In summer a trolley serves the Lakes Basin and a shuttle runs into Reds Meadow.

Big Sky is strung along about 15km of road. A free bus joins the villages, but the airport is an hour away and Yellowstone needs a car. Both towns need a car to explore further afield.

Neither is a shopping destination, and in both the shops are for gear. Big Sky has a little more Western style, with a few boutiques and galleries of wildlife art, and Bozeman is near enough for a proper shop. Mammoth has stronger climbing and fly-fishing outfitters and landscape photography galleries, but no city close by.

Both are costly, but Big Sky sits at the very top of the American West's price range. In winter, slopeside lodging and luxury resorts set the level, and lift passes, ski school and guided fishing quickly add up. Summer and the quieter months bring only partial relief, so the real saving comes from sleeping in the canyon or down in Bozeman, which you pay for in driving.

Mammoth's peak ski weeks are steep as well, with lift tickets as dear as almost anywhere. Once those weeks pass, though, the town eases off more clearly than Big Sky does, and in spring and autumn rooms get cheaper without your having to move away from the mountain. Groceries and restaurant bills still carry resort-town prices all year.

Both towns put on more than you would expect for their size, in different ways. Big Sky's arts centre in Meadow Village brings in touring musicians and theatre in winter, and summer adds free concerts on the lawn and a short classical festival. Mammoth has its own resident theatre company playing through the year on the college campus, and in summer a jazz festival and chamber music outdoors.

Mammoth Lakes is the better place to unwind, because its volcanic ground produces natural hot springs. Soaking in a simple pool out in the sagebrush at dusk, looking across to the Sierra, is something Big Sky cannot match.

In Montana, relaxing means lodge spas and a hot tub under the stars, and the nearest springs are an hour away towards Bozeman.