Boulder or Jackson Hole?

Neither is a place to swim, but Jackson Hole has the more memorable water. By late summer String Lake, shallow and sandy-bottomed beneath the Tetons, is warm enough for a real swim after a hike, although the larger lakes and the Snake stay cold. Boulder's offer is more like a town pastime: the small sandy swim area at Boulder Reservoir and an afternoon floating Boulder Creek on an inner tube.

The two eat about equally well for small towns, but in different ways. Boulder cooks light and seasonal, with plenty of vegetarian and vegan menus, Front Range produce, the creekside Saturday farmers' market, craft beer taprooms and lunch in the carved Dushanbe Teahouse.

Jackson is more about meat and the West: elk, bison and Rocky Mountain trout in steakhouses and chef-led dining rooms, huckleberries in everything and some serious wine lists. Both are thin on street food and variety, though from Boulder it is a short trip to Denver's wider choice.

Neither has much in the way of sights, but Boulder has a little more to fill the day. Its sights are architectural and civic: the wooden cottages of the Chautauqua colony, the sandstone and red-tile university campus, and I.M. Pei's laboratory on the mesa with its free weather exhibits.

Jackson's best moments are framed by the landscape: the barns of Mormon Row and the log chapel window with the Tetons behind them, along with a strong National Museum of Wildlife Art above the elk refuge. In each place, one unhurried day is enough.

Boulder has the livelier evenings, though neither town stays up late. Pearl Street has taprooms and cocktail bars, University Hill fills with students in term, and there are even a couple of small clubs. Jackson's nightlife follows the seasons. Après-ski in Teton Village is loud as the lifts close, the saddle-stool saloon has country dancing, and in spring and autumn the bars empty out.

Boulder would be a superb outdoor base almost anywhere. More than 200km of trails start in town below the Flatirons, Eldorado Canyon offers world-class climbing ten minutes away, the canyon roads are a magnet for cyclists, and Rocky Mountain National Park is about an hour off.

Jackson Hole still goes further. It is wilder and on a bigger scale, with the Tetons rising sheer from the valley, Grand Teton National Park at the edge of town and Yellowstone within a morning's drive. The wildlife is the real difference: moose, bison, grizzlies and wintering elk herds, plus some of the steepest lift-served skiing in North America.

This is where Boulder pulls well ahead. Denver is a short express-bus ride away for its art museum, state capitol and Union Station, and with a car Golden, Fort Collins and the old silver towns of Georgetown and Idaho Springs make easy outings.

Jackson's excursions lead into the parks rather than to other towns. The farm towns of Victor and Driggs over Teton Pass, or the ranch country to the south, make pleasant drives but are not worth a whole day.

Both suit outdoor-minded families about equally well, in different ways. Jackson Hole offers bigger experiences: moose and bison from the car, Junior Ranger badges, sleigh rides through the elk herd, the summer rodeo and the shootout on the square. The price is long drives, tiring altitude and little to do when it rains.

Boulder is gentler and easier to run day to day. It has creek paths, the Chautauqua meadow, tubing and street performers, plus a planetarium and museums for wet afternoons, and Denver's zoo and aquarium are close by.

Boulder is far easier without a car. Downtown, the campus and Chautauqua are within walking distance of each other, the off-street bike paths along the creek are excellent, and an express bus runs to Denver. Jackson's centre is walkable and a bus runs to Teton Village, but there is no public transport into the parks, so a car or guided tours are essential. In both places, serious trips into the mountains mean hiring a car.

The two are about level, and both are limited, but they sell different things. On Boulder's Pearl Street Mall you'll find independent bookshops, toy shops and some unusually good climbing, running and cycling gear, with a mall district to the east. The boardwalks around Jackson's square are about Western art galleries, handmade cowboy hats and boots, turquoise jewellery and high-end mountain gear.

Resort pricing on almost everything is what makes Jackson Hole the harder of the two on the wallet. Boulder is expensive too, with few hotel rooms and steep rates in summer and on graduation and football weekends. Still, its trails cost nothing, the buses are cheap, and staying in Denver and coming in is an easy way to cut the bill.

In Jackson, rooms are scarce and costly in both summer and ski season, and lift tickets, rental cars and guided rafting or wildlife trips add up fast. The ways to save there are staying over the pass in Idaho or coming in the quiet months of late spring and autumn.

Boulder hears far more live music, and not only in summer. Small and mid-sized rooms downtown and on the Hill book bluegrass, roots and rock most nights. In summer the Colorado Music Festival plays in the wooden Chautauqua Auditorium and there is outdoor Shakespeare on campus, and Red Rocks Amphitheatre is under an hour away.

Jackson's high point is the Grand Teton Music Festival, when players from leading American orchestras fill the timber concert hall in Teton Village for several summer weeks. Chuckwagon dinner shows and country bands in the saloons round out the season, but outside summer there is little beyond community theatre and bar bands.

Boulder's yoga studios and Jackson's hot springs offer two quite different kinds of rest. In Boulder, wellness is a way of life: meditation and yoga studios everywhere, a Buddhist-inspired university, massage and acupuncture, and long sunny mornings. For proper soaking, though, you have to drive about an hour to Idaho Springs.

In Jackson, rest means a long soak after a day outdoors. There is a hot-springs pool in a forested canyon south of town, reached by dog sled or snowmobile in winter, and soaking pools on the bank of the Snake. Beyond those, wellness there mostly means resort spas.