Colorado Springs or Deer Valley?

Neither place is for a beach vacation, and both are a long way from the sea. Colorado Springs offers pools and a chilly dip in a reservoir or city lake, and most people who want water head off rafting on the Arkansas River.

Deer Valley has slightly more to offer in high summer. Jordanelle Reservoir has a sandy shoreline in its state park and the water is pleasant on July and August afternoons, but the season is short.

The two are evenly matched, but the food is very different. Colorado Springs is casual and Southwestern, with green chile, Mexican kitchens, barbecue and brewery taprooms with food trucks outside, and the best places to eat are in Old Colorado City and Manitou Springs.

Deer Valley and Park City are about polished resort dining: mountain lodges, steakhouses, sushi and après-ski grills crowded along Main Street, with little cheap or casual food. In Colorado Springs the local beer is the high point, while in Deer Valley the best thing is a good dinner.

Colorado Springs has more to see, though its sights are spread out. The aluminium spires of the Air Force Academy's Cadet Chapel, the Olympic and Paralympic Museum, the Southwestern collection at the Fine Arts Center and the Pioneers Museum add up to a couple of good days.

Deer Valley is a purpose-built resort with no heritage of its own. The history is in neighbouring Park City's silver-mining Main Street and its museum, and with the Olympic Park that fills a single afternoon.

Both are quiet places at night, but the crowds differ. Tejon Street in Colorado Springs fills at weekends with students and young soldiers from the nearby bases, with sports bars and a few dance spots, though many brewery taprooms close early.

Park City's Main Street is an après-ski scene of saloons and cocktail bars, liveliest in ski season and shaped by Utah's liquor rules. Up at Deer Valley itself, an evening means a fireside lounge, and most guests are in bed early to catch the first lift.

Both are excellent mountain bases, but they suit different seasons. Colorado Springs is a summer and shoulder-season place for walking and climbing: Pikes Peak by trail, road or cog railway, the red sandstone of Garden of the Gods, the Manitou Incline, and dry trails that stay open for much of the year.

Deer Valley comes into its own in winter, with world-class grooming, Park City Mountain next door and Cottonwood Canyon powder within an hour. In summer its ski runs turn into a vast linked network of biking and hiking trails through the aspens. Both towns sit at altitude, so take the first day gently in either.

Colorado Springs has the better spread of outings. Denver's museums are just over an hour north, the gold-mining towns of Cripple Creek and Victor are up a scenic mountain road, and the Royal Gorge Bridge is an easy drive, with Manitou Springs right next door.

From Deer Valley, Salt Lake City is the one substantial trip, for Temple Square and its museums. Midway, Sundance and the Heber Valley steam railway are pleasant but small, and most of what is grand nearby is landscape rather than towns.

Colorado Springs gives children more variety. There is the mountainside zoo where they can hand-feed giraffes, cave tours at Cave of the Winds, the Manitou Cliff Dwellings, the cog railway and a Christmas-themed park, all short outings, though with plenty of time in the car.

Deer Valley is very smooth for families who ski, with good ski schools and gentle groomed runs, and the Olympic Park adds tubing and an alpine coaster. Away from the snow, the zoo and museums are down in Salt Lake City, and lessons and lift access get expensive quickly.

Deer Valley is much easier to manage without a car on the spot. Fare-free buses link the base areas with Main Street and Park City Mountain, and plenty of lodging is ski-in, though trips further afield still need a car.

Colorado Springs is built for driving. Its sights are strung along the foothills, the buses are thin, and only downtown, Old Colorado City and Manitou are pleasant on foot, so a hire car is close to essential.

Neither is a shopping destination, and the shops reflect the towns. Colorado Springs has rock and gem shops, Western wear and galleries in the old storefronts of Old Colorado City and Manitou, with outlets and big-box stores along the highways.

Park City's Main Street is more upmarket, with clothing boutiques, galleries and serious ski and mountain gear, and there is an outlet centre at Kimball Junction.

This is where the two differ most. Colorado Springs is moderately priced by American standards, with reasonable chain hotels and free parks and trails, so even with car hire a week need not be expensive.

Deer Valley is one of the most expensive ski resorts anywhere, from slopeside lodging to lift access, ski school and meals on the mountain. Summer is easier on the budget, and many visitors save by staying in the Heber Valley or Salt Lake City and driving in.

The two are broadly level, but the timing differs. Colorado Springs has a programme that runs through the year: the Philharmonic's season at the Pikes Peak Center, plays and musicals from the Fine Arts Center's theatre company, and touring bands at the outdoor amphitheatre in summer. It is the kind of local culture that fills a spare evening, not a reason to visit.

Deer Valley's best moment is seasonal. In summer the Utah Symphony's festival brings picnics on the grass at Snow Park, a setting Colorado Springs doesn't quite match. For the rest of the year it relies on the restored 1920s Egyptian Theatre on Main Street, with plays, comedy and small concerts, so a winter visitor has fewer evenings to choose from than in Colorado Springs.

Deer Valley is the more restful stay. The whole resort is built around comfort, with fireplaces, hot tubs on snowy terraces, some of the region's most polished spas, and the warm crater pool at Midway half an hour away.

Colorado Springs has the older bathing tradition, with Manitou Springs' carbonated fountains and a small soaking spa, plus the Broadmoor's resort spa. Beyond those it is mostly ordinary hotel spas, and the big Colorado hot springs are more than two hours away.