Deer Valley or Page, Arizona?

Page has the water. Lake Powell warms up properly by midsummer, Lone Rock has open sand you can drive down to, and the best swims are off a boat or kayak into deep coves between sandstone walls. There are no lifeguards, and the shoreline changes with the lake level.

Deer Valley offers only Jordanelle and Deer Creek reservoirs, boating lakes with a small beach, worth a swim on a hot July afternoon. For most visitors, summer swimming there means the hotel pool.

Deer Valley eats better, mostly because of Park City. Main Street has steakhouses, sushi, modern American bistros and après-ski grills, more than a town that size would usually support, and the lodges add polished resort cooking. It is all fairly upmarket, though, with little street food and no local cuisine.

Page feeds road-trippers with diners, barbecue, Mexican food and chains. The one dish it has that Deer Valley lacks is the Navajo taco, frybread with beans and meat, which is best from a stand on the reservation.

Neither is a museum destination, and either will fill an afternoon at most. Deer Valley borrows its history from Park City's restored silver-mining Main Street, where old headframes stand on the slopes, and from the Olympic Park built for the 2002 Winter Games.

Page is a dam town from the 1950s. Its sights are engineering and exploration: the Glen Canyon Dam visitor centre and the John Wesley Powell museum. Its deeper cultural layer is the surrounding Navajo Nation, which you meet on the guided canyon tours.

Deer Valley's evenings are livelier, if only by the standards of a small town. In ski season, saloons, cocktail bars and après-ski spots on Park City's Main Street fill up, especially at weekends, though there are few clubs and Utah's liquor rules keep things restrained.

Page has a handful of bars and a brewpub, and it is quiet well before midnight. Its best night out is the dark desert sky full of stars.

Both are outstanding outdoors, but the landscapes could hardly be more different. Deer Valley is alpine: groomed runs, Park City Mountain next door and Utah powder at Alta and Snowbird, then aspen and fir trails for hiking and mountain biking in summer, at an altitude that takes a day to get used to.

Page is red-rock desert and water: the glowing slot canyons of Antelope Canyon, the drop at Horseshoe Bend, boat trips on Lake Powell to Rainbow Bridge, rafting from Lees Ferry and the Vermilion Cliffs. Its hiking seasons are spring and autumn, the reverse of the mountains.

Deer Valley has more towns within reach. Salt Lake City, about forty minutes away, has Temple Square, the State Capitol and good museums. Closer by are the Swiss-styled village of Midway, the steam railway in the Heber Valley and the arts village at Sundance.

From Page the outings are long drives to small places: the pioneer buildings at Lees Ferry, the Betatakin cliff dwellings at Navajo National Monument, and the film-set history of Kanab. The scenery is the real attraction.

Deer Valley is easier with children, especially if they ski. It has good children's ski schools, wide beginner runs with no snowboarders, and ski-in lodging, and the Olympic Park adds tubing, an alpine coaster and ziplines. The bills for lessons and lift access add up fast.

Page wins children over with lake days and short canyon tours, but it has nothing built for them. The summer sun is harsh, the cliff edges at Horseshoe Bend are unfenced, and some slot canyon tours involve steep ladders.

At Deer Valley you can leave the car parked for days. Free buses link the base areas with Main Street, Park City Mountain and Kimball Junction, and Salt Lake City airport is about forty minutes away. You only need to drive to reach the canyons or the valleys beyond.

In Page a car is essential. Apart from the motel strip, everything is a drive away, from Horseshoe Bend to the marinas, and the nearest major airports are hours away, so most visitors arrive on a road trip.

Deer Valley has more to browse. Park City's Main Street has art galleries, western boots and hats, upmarket boutiques and good mountain gear, with an outlet centre at Kimball Junction. Page offers something more particular: Navajo silver and turquoise, rugs and pottery, bought at trading posts and roadside stalls, often straight from the maker.

Page costs far less, although rooms run short in the busy months, and the paid canyon tours and boat hire add up. Camping at the lake or coming in winter keeps it reasonable.

Deer Valley is among the most expensive ski resorts anywhere. It has luxury lodging, top-end lift access and pricey mountain meals. Summer is easier on the budget, and staying in the Heber Valley and driving in is the usual way to save.

Deer Valley has a real summer programme. The Utah Symphony holds its outdoor festival at the Snow Park amphitheatre, where people picnic on the grass, and the 1920s Egyptian Theatre on Main Street stages plays and small concerts year round. Page has little beyond Navajo dance presentations put on for visitors and the odd local band in a bar.

Deer Valley is the place to unwind. It has quiet slopeside lodges, hot tubs on snowy terraces, some of the most polished hotel spas in the mountain West, and the warm spring pool inside the Homestead Crater half an hour away.

Page offers wide desert views and peaceful evenings, but its spa options are a few hotel offerings and motel pools, and the early canyon starts keep most stays busy.