Deer Valley or Estes Park?

Neither is a place to swim, but Deer Valley has a small edge. Jordanelle Reservoir below the resort has a state park with a sandy shoreline, and the water is pleasant enough for a dip on a hot July or August afternoon.

In Estes Park, Lake Estes and the alpine lakes in the national park are fed by snowmelt and stay cold all summer, so people walk, paddle and fish beside them instead. Swimming there means the town's indoor aquatic centre or a hotel pool.

Deer Valley eats better. Park City's Main Street has a surprising number of steakhouses, sushi places, modern American bistros and après-ski grills, and the mountain lodges add polished resort cooking, although almost all of it is at the upscale end.

Estes Park eats like a trailhead town: burgers, barbecue, elk and bison, big diner breakfasts and the taffy shops on Elkhorn Avenue, with many kitchens closing early or cutting back outside summer. Neither town has street food or markets, and in both the drinking centres on craft breweries and a distillery or two.

There is not much heritage in either place, roughly an afternoon's worth in each. Deer Valley draws on Park City, with its restored silver-mining Main Street, old mine headframes on the slopes, the Park City Museum in the old city hall and the ski-jump towers of the 2002 Olympic park.

Estes Park's sightseeing centres on one building, the Stanley Hotel, where you can tour the public rooms and hear the ghost stories behind The Shining. There is also a small homesteading museum and the MacGregor Ranch below Lumpy Ridge. The choice comes down to mining-boom and Olympic history in Park City, or one famous hotel and ranch life in Estes Park.

Park City's Main Street gives Deer Valley a real après-ski scene, with saloons and cocktail bars that fill up on winter weekends, even if they close early by city standards and Utah's liquor rules shape the evening. Estes Park barely has a night out: a few taprooms and saloon bars on Elkhorn Avenue get busy after a day on the trails, then the town is quiet by ten because most visitors are up before dawn.

Both are outstanding mountain bases, but they suit different people. Deer Valley is above all about skiing: its own groomed slopes, Park City Mountain next door and the deep powder of Alta and Snowbird about an hour away. In summer the ski runs become lift-served mountain-biking and hiking trails.

Estes Park has no ski resort nearby, but Rocky Mountain National Park starts at the edge of town. It has Trail Ridge Road across the alpine tundra, lakes such as Bear and Dream and the granite of Longs Peak, and elk, bighorn sheep and moose are everyday sights. Choose Deer Valley for snow sports and mountain biking, and Estes Park for hiking and wildlife.

The day trips are of similar weight, and in both places you need a car for them. Deer Valley's main outing is Salt Lake City, about forty minutes away, for Temple Square and the State Capitol. Closer by are Swiss-styled Midway, the Heber Valley steam railway and the arts village at Sundance.

Estes Park has more variety in the towns on the plains below: Boulder's Pearl Street and the Flatirons, the historic Old Town and breweries of Fort Collins, and Denver's big-city museums a little further away. In summer you can also drive over Trail Ridge Road to Grand Lake.

Both work equally well for families, but for different families. Deer Valley is easiest if you ski, with good children's ski schools, wide beginner runs free of snowboarders and ski-in lodging, plus tubing and an alpine coaster at the Olympic park. The cost of lessons and lift access climbs quickly.

Estes Park suits families who hike, with elk wandering through town, junior ranger activities, flat walks around Sprague and Bear lakes, and mini golf and the Prospect Mountain tramway in town. In both places the altitude tires small children for the first day or two.

You can manage Deer Valley with less driving. Fare-free buses link the resort's base areas with Main Street, Park City Mountain and Kimball Junction, many lodgings sit right on the slopes, and Salt Lake City airport is about forty minutes away.

Estes Park has a walkable downtown and free summer shuttles to the Bear Lake corridor. Otherwise you need a car: the drive up from Denver takes about an hour and a half, and the trailheads, Trail Ridge Road and the towns on the plains can only be reached by road. Traffic and parking in town are also difficult on summer weekends.

Neither suits a shopping trip, and in both places serious shoppers head down to the city. What differs is the kind of shop. Park City's Main Street leans upmarket, with art galleries, boutique clothing, western boots and good ski gear, and there is an outlet centre at Kimball Junction.

Elkhorn Avenue in Estes Park is mostly souvenirs, T-shirts, taffy and fudge, with some western wear and galleries selling wildlife photography and Native American-style jewellery.

Estes Park is clearly the cheaper of the two, though neither is a bargain. Deer Valley is among the most expensive places to ski anywhere, with luxury slopeside lodging, top-end lift prices and ski school on top, so many visitors save by staying in the Heber Valley or Salt Lake City.

Estes Park is expensive in summer, but winter and spring rooms are far cheaper, cabins with kitchens let families cook, and the national park's hiking and wildlife cost only the entrance fee. Car rental is the main extra cost.

Deer Valley has more to see and hear. In summer the Utah Symphony's outdoor festival at the Snow Park amphitheatre draws picnickers for classical music, pops and visiting headliners. All year, the restored 1920s Egyptian Theatre on Main Street stages plays, comedy and small concerts.

Estes Park offers free summer concerts at its riverside performance park, occasional evenings at the Stanley Hotel and the Scottish-Irish Highland Festival in September, but little else. For theatre or an orchestra you have to drive to Boulder or Denver.

For pampering, Deer Valley wins easily. It has polished hotel spas, hot tubs on snowy terraces and massages for tired ski legs, and the warm spring pool inside the Homestead Crater at Midway is about half an hour away.

Estes Park has no hot springs and only a few lodge spas and massage studios. Its restful side is simpler: a cabin by the river, elk at dusk and empty evenings, at their best in winter and spring when the summer crowds have gone.