Copper Mountain or Palm Desert?

Neither has a beach, and both are far from the coast. What differs is the water you do get. At Copper Mountain the Summit County lakes stay cold from snowmelt even in July, so swimming means a heated lodge pool or a hot tub. In Palm Desert the resort pool is the centre of the stay, warmed through winter and ringed by palms, and the Pacific is close enough for a long day out at the beach.

Neither is a food destination, but Copper Mountain is the plainer of the two. You get burgers and chilli in the mid-mountain lodges, pizza and pub food in the village, and a condo kitchen for the rest. For more choice you drive to Frisco or Breckenridge.

Palm Desert gives you more to work with. The patio restaurants and steakhouses along El Paseo are polished, if alike, and suit a long outdoor dinner on a warm winter evening. Real local flavour comes from the family taquerias of Indio and Coachella and from the date groves selling date shakes.

Copper Mountain has nothing to visit in the way of sights. It is a village of condos and lodges, and the region's mining-era heritage belongs to the neighbouring towns. Palm Desert has a little more, even though it is a post-war resort town. There is the Palm Springs Art Museum's branch with its sculpture garden, public art and galleries on El Paseo, and Palm Springs' mid-century modern houses are twenty minutes away. Even so, sightseeing there fills a morning or two, not a trip.

At Copper Mountain going out means après-ski: base-area bars full of skiers in boots on winter afternoons, music on the plaza on busy weekends, and quiet by late evening, especially out of season.

Palm Desert has a bit more range, though it is still sedate. Wine bars and cocktail lounges on the El Paseo patios close early. The tribal casinos keep lounges open into the small hours, and Palm Springs' downtown, with its well-known gay scene, is the place for a real night out.

Nature is Copper Mountain's great strength. In winter it is a large ski area at the foot of the Tenmile Range, with several other major areas close by. In summer the same slopes become hiking and mountain-biking country along the Colorado Trail, and fourteen-thousand-foot peaks such as Mount Elbert are within an hour.

Palm Desert's landscape is a strong draw of a very different kind. Steep trails climb the Santa Rosa Mountains, the Indian Canyons hide fan-palm oases, and Joshua Tree offers granite boulders and huge night skies. Its outdoor season is the reverse of Copper's, because summer heat confines activity to around dawn.

Copper Mountain has the more rewarding outings close at hand. Breckenridge and Leadville, each about half an hour away, keep real mining-era main streets. Georgetown has its narrow-gauge railway, and Denver's museums are within reach when I-70 traffic allows.

Palm Desert's excursions are more scattered and more offbeat: tasting rooms in Temecula wine country, cool air in Idyllwild during summer, the old Western set at Pioneertown and the painted hillside of Salvation Mountain. Los Angeles and San Diego are too far for a comfortable day.

Copper Mountain is the easier place for children, especially if they ski or want to learn. The car-free village, the children's ski school, snow tubing, the mountain coaster and the indoor centre with trampolines and foam pits keep a family busy in one place. At nearly 3,000m, though, the first couple of days need care with small children.

Palm Desert has one big draw in the Living Desert, a zoo and botanical garden, plus resort pools and slides. Beyond that the valley is built around golf and adults, every outing needs a car, and the midday heat in summer is unwise for little ones.

Copper Mountain is simpler once you arrive. Walkways, lifts and a free shuttle link the villages, and free county buses run to Frisco, so a car can sit unused for days. Getting there is the hard part: about two hours by road from Denver airport, on an I-70 that can be slow over snowy passes.

In Palm Desert you need a car for almost everything. The town spreads along wide boulevards, and buses are slow and infrequent. Only a few blocks of El Paseo are pleasant on foot, but the roads are uncongested and parking is easy.

Copper Mountain's shops cover ski and snowboard rental, outdoor gear, sunglasses and resort-branded clothing, and anyone wanting more drives to the Silverthorne outlets or the boutiques of Breckenridge. Palm Desert is far ahead. Browsing El Paseo's palm-lined boulevard is a social outing in itself, there is an indoor mall for the familiar chains, and Palm Springs adds vintage and mid-century furniture shops.

Both are American resorts and neither is cheap, but Copper Mountain is the more expensive trip, above all in winter, when lift access, slope-side lodging, equipment rental and mountain meals add up. Condos with kitchens and beds in Frisco or Silverthorne soften the bill, and summer costs less.

Palm Desert is easier on the budget, though in the winter and spring high season resort rooms are expensive and a hire car adds a daily cost. Golf and spa treatments stretch spending fastest. In the summer heat resort rooms fall well below their winter rates.

Copper Mountain offers summer concert weekends on the village plaza and acoustic sets at après-ski. For a real programme you have to drive to Breckenridge's classical season.

Palm Desert has a proper stage in the McCallum Theatre, which hosts touring Broadway shows, ballet, orchestras and comedians through the winter. The casinos and an arena bring big-name concerts, and Coachella and Stagecoach fill nearby Indio for a few spring weekends. Outside the season, though, the stage goes quiet.

At Copper Mountain unwinding means an outdoor hot tub looking up at the slopes, with pools and massages at the athletic club. The nearest hot springs are a long drive across the mountains.

Palm Desert was built for slowing down. Resort spas, afternoons by the pool and early nights set an unhurried rhythm. Half an hour north, the small spa hotels of Desert Hot Springs fill their pools straight from natural mineral springs, a bathing tradition the Rockies resort simply lacks.