Deer Valley or Flagstaff?

Neither is a place to swim, and the little swimming there is differs in kind. Deer Valley has a sandy shoreline on Jordanelle Reservoir, a boating lake that is pleasant on hot July and August afternoons. Flagstaff's best option is a drive down Oak Creek Canyon to Slide Rock and the creek pools, where the water is cold, the rocks are slippery and the crowds arrive at weekends.

Both are modest places to eat, but at opposite ends. Park City's Main Street gives Deer Valley an upscale tier unusual for a town its size: steakhouses, sushi, modern American bistros, plus the lodge chili that skiers eat out of habit.

Flagstaff is casual and cheaper. Its strength is the craft breweries around downtown and the Southside, alongside Mexican and New Mexican cooking, diners and the odd plate of Navajo frybread or green chile. Choose Park City for a smart dinner and Flagstaff for a beer on a patio after a hike.

Flagstaff has noticeably more to see. Lowell Observatory, where Pluto was discovered in 1930, offers historic telescopes and night viewings. The Museum of Northern Arizona holds a serious collection of Hopi, Navajo and Zuni art, and the Riordan Mansion and the brick railroad-era downtown fill out a day or two.

Deer Valley is a purpose-built resort, so its history is borrowed from Park City. That means a restored silver-mining Main Street, the town museum in the old city hall and the 2002 Olympic ski jumps. It makes a pleasant afternoon but not much more.

Both are towns for a drink or two rather than a big night out, but the crowd and the calendar differ. Deer Valley's evenings follow the snow. The lodges stay hushed, so anyone wanting company takes the free bus down to Park City's Main Street, where skiers come straight off the slopes into the bars on winter weekends. Utah's licensing laws shape the evening, and with the lifts opening early, few people stay out late.

Flagstaff offers a little more going out, and it follows the university year instead of the ski season. Its brewery taprooms and Route 66 saloons are close together downtown and in the Southside, so you can stroll from one to the next without a bus or a car. Northern Arizona University students give term-time weekends more energy. Neither town has a real club scene, and in both the last drinks come early.

Both are first-rate mountain bases, but one is built around skiing and the other around landscape. Deer Valley offers groomed, skiers-only slopes, with Park City Mountain next door and Alta, Snowbird, Brighton and Solitude an hour away. In summer the ski runs become linked, lift-served mountain-bike and hiking trails.

Flagstaff has a single ski area half an hour away rather than slopes at the door, but its range is wider. There are the volcanic San Francisco Peaks, a vast ponderosa forest, the lava flows at Sunset Crater, Sedona's red rock and the Grand Canyon. Its dark skies also make it one of the best places in the country for stargazing.

Flagstaff has the richer choice of outings. Within a couple of hours lie Sedona, the hillside mining town of Jerome, the cliff dwellings at Montezuma Castle, the Sinagua ruins at Walnut Canyon and Wupatki, the Grand Canyon railway from Williams and the ancient Hopi villages. It is a long list of varied places, though each needs a drive.

Deer Valley's best outing is a city: Salt Lake City, forty minutes away, with Temple Square and the State Capitol. Beyond that the choice is gentler, with the Swiss-styled village of Midway, the Heber Valley steam railway, Sundance and Ogden's 25th Street.

Both work well with children, but for different families, and the altitude tires small children in either for the first day or two. Deer Valley is made for families who ski, with well-run ski schools, wide beginner runs free of snowboarders, and tubing, an alpine coaster and ziplines at the Olympic Park. The bill for lessons and lifts mounts quickly.

Flagstaff suits curious children better than skiers. It has telescope evenings at the observatory, dinosaur displays at the museum, sledding in winter, the train to the Grand Canyon and a drive-through wildlife park, though the drives between them are long.

Deer Valley is the easier place to leave the car parked. Fare-free buses link its base areas with Main Street, Park City Mountain and Kimball Junction, much of the lodging is on the slopes, and Salt Lake City airport is about forty minutes away.

Flagstaff's downtown is walkable and its paved urban trails make cycling practical, and long-distance trains stop in the centre. But its motels are spread along Route 66, and the mountain, the monuments, Sedona and the Grand Canyon are all beyond public transport, so a car or a tour is essential.

Neither is a shopping destination, but each has its own speciality. Park City's Main Street sells ski and outdoor gear, western boots and hats, art and upmarket clothing, with an outlet centre at Kimball Junction. Flagstaff's is Native American craft: Navajo rugs, Hopi kachina carvings, pottery and turquoise jewellery from downtown galleries, the museum shop and trading posts. Buy these from established dealers or directly from the artists.

This is where the two differ most. Deer Valley is among the most expensive places to ski anywhere. Lodging is mostly luxury and lift access, ski school and mountain meals all cost a great deal, and even summer only softens this. Staying in the Heber Valley and driving in is the usual way to save.

Flagstaff is moderately priced by American standards. Chain motels and brewery meals keep a stay manageable, though rooms rise on summer weekends and a hire car, fuel and park entry fees add up.

The two are evenly matched, with a pleasant programme rather than a reason to go, but their calendars peak at different times. Deer Valley's highlight is the Utah Symphony's summer festival at the Snow Park amphitheatre, with picnics on the grass, plus plays and small concerts at the 1920s Egyptian Theatre. Flagstaff's is spread more evenly through the year, with the university and the city symphony in the campus concert hall, folk and indie acts at the Orpheum Theater, and local bands in the breweries.

Deer Valley is the place to be pampered. It has quiet slopeside lodges with fireplaces, hot tubs on snowy terraces and some of the most polished hotel spas in the mountain West. Half an hour away in Midway, you can bathe in a warm spring inside a limestone dome.

Flagstaff has only a few day spas and massage studios. It relaxes you through its setting instead, with cool evenings, pine-scented air and bright stars. Resort spas and yoga retreats mean an hour's drive down to Sedona.