Big Sky or Sedona?

Neither place has a beach, but Sedona at least gives you a proper swim. Slide Rock's sandstone chute and the deeper pools at Grasshopper Point and Red Rock Crossing make a cool break below the red cliffs on a hot afternoon, though they fill up fast.

In Big Sky the Gallatin River is too cold and fast for anything but a paddle at the edge, so summer swimming means a hotel pool or a small reservoir.

Both towns serve resort food at resort prices, but Sedona has a little more range. Big Sky cooks hearty mountain fare, such as bison, elk, trout and big pre-ski breakfasts, and some kitchens cut their hours between seasons, so for variety you drive to Bozeman.

Sedona adds Southwestern cooking with chilli and corn, plenty of choice for vegetarians and health-minded eaters, sunset terraces facing the rocks, and Verde Valley tasting rooms just down the road.

Sedona offers more to see, though it is still modest. The Chapel of the Holy Cross, built into a butte, is a real sight. The Sinagua cliff dwellings at Palatki and Honanki and the V Bar V petroglyphs lie a short drive away, and the town has many galleries of Western and Native American art.

Big Sky, built from the 1970s on, has little beyond the log cabins of the Crail Ranch homestead in Meadow Village.

Big Sky has the better hour after the lifts close. In ski season, people still in their boots crowd the base-area decks in Mountain Village, a few Town Center taverns stay open after dinner, and old saloons in the Gallatin Canyon have pool tables and a ranch-country crowd. In spring and autumn the resort goes almost silent.

Sedona is quieter still. Its brewpubs, wine bars and resort lounges in Uptown are good for one drink after dinner, and the main event is the dark desert sky.

Both are first-rate outdoor destinations, but they offer very different landscapes. Big Sky is alpine: Lone Peak towers over the ski runs, summer trails lead into the Spanish Peaks and Lee Metcalf Wilderness, and the Gallatin River offers fly fishing and rafting, with Yellowstone's geysers and wolves about an hour south.

Sedona is red-rock desert, with sandstone buttes such as Cathedral Rock and Bell Rock, the arch at Devil's Bridge, slickrock singletrack for mountain bikers and jeep roads into the backcountry. Oak Creek Canyon climbs into pine forest, and the Grand Canyon's South Rim is about two hours away.

Sedona has far more to fill a day away. Jerome, an old copper town on a mountainside, the Verde Canyon Railroad, and the ancient sites of Montezuma Castle, Tuzigoot, Walnut Canyon and Wupatki are all within reach, with Flagstaff and Prescott as pleasant small towns besides.

From Big Sky the choice is thinner: Bozeman and its dinosaur fossils at the Museum of the Rockies, then the gold-rush boardwalks of Virginia City and Nevada City two hours out.

Big Sky does more for children. Its ski school and beginner slopes make winter simple, and in summer the base area becomes an adventure park with zip lines, a climbing wall and gondola rides, plus horse riding and calm-water rafting. The altitude can tire small children for the first day or two.

Sedona has Slide Rock, short trails and jeep tours, but little else aimed at children, and its summer heat and exposed trails need care.

Big Sky has a free bus that runs the 15km from the Gallatin Canyon through Meadow Village and Town Center to Mountain Village, and slopeside lodging lets skiers manage without a car until they head for Yellowstone. Bozeman airport is about an hour away, though winter driving through the canyon needs care.

Sedona has no link like that, only a shuttle to some of the busiest trailheads, so a car does almost everything beyond walkable Uptown. Weekend traffic builds up around the Y junction, trailhead car parks fill early, and the drive up from Phoenix takes about two hours.

Sedona is the better place to browse. Tlaquepaque's courtyards and the galleries along the main road sell Native American jewellery, pottery and rugs alongside Western painting, and the crystal and metaphysical shops are a local speciality.

Big Sky offers ski and fly-fishing gear, a few Western boutiques and wildlife art, and serious shoppers head to Bozeman.

Both are expensive, but Big Sky is the harder on a budget. Slopeside lodging, lift passes, ski school and guided fishing add up quickly in winter, and summer is the cheaper season.

In Sedona the trails need only a parking pass and a picnic costs little. Staying in Cottonwood or Flagstaff cuts the room bill further, though jeep tours, balloon flights and spa treatments are where the money goes.

Big Sky has slightly more of a programme. A performing arts centre in Meadow Village brings in touring musicians, chamber music and theatre in winter, and summer adds free concerts on the Town Center lawn and a short classical festival.

Sedona has an occasional arts calendar: its long-running film festival in late winter, some chamber concerts and local theatre, and acoustic sets or Native American flute in resort bars.

Wellness is one of Sedona's main draws and only a pleasant extra in Big Sky. Sedona's destination spas look out over red canyons, and yoga studios, meditation, breathwork and alternative therapies fill the town. Walks to the vortexes at sunrise give a trip its own rhythm.

In Big Sky, wellness mostly means a deck hot tub and a lodge massage for sore ski legs, though the natural hot springs towards Bozeman offer something Sedona does not.