Deer Valley or Sedona?

Neither is a place to swim, but Sedona's water is more memorable. Oak Creek slides down Slide Rock's sandstone chute and fills deep pools below the red cliffs at Grasshopper Point and Red Rock Crossing. The water is cold even in midsummer, and the spots get crowded on hot weekends.

Deer Valley's version is the sandy shore of Jordanelle Reservoir, a boating lake that is pleasant on July and August afternoons. For most guests, summer swimming means the hotel pool.

Both towns eat at the upmarket end, with no street food, no markets and no cuisine of their own. Park City's Main Street gives Deer Valley a little more range, from steakhouses and sushi to après-ski grills, and the turkey chili at the base area is a skiers' ritual.

Sedona offers Southwestern cooking, plenty for vegetarian and health-minded eaters, and terraces with red-rock views at sunset. The Verde Valley tasting rooms down the road give it a wine side that Deer Valley's breweries and distilleries don't match.

Neither is a place for museums, and both have only an afternoon or two of sights. Deer Valley's heritage is next door in Park City: the restored silver-mining Main Street, old headframes on the slopes and the ski-jump towers of the 2002 Olympic Park.

Sedona's sights are older and less expected. There is the Chapel of the Holy Cross, built into a butte, plus galleries of Western and Native American art. A short drive out, the Sinagua people left cliff dwellings and petroglyphs at Palatki, Honanki and V Bar V.

Deer Valley has more going on after dark, though only because of its neighbour. Park City's saloons and cocktail bars fill with après-ski crowds on winter weekends, even if the town has few clubs and closes early.

Sedona has little to set against that: a few brewpubs, wine bars and resort lounges in Uptown, and an early night. Its best evening entertainment is a sky dark enough for proper stargazing.

Both are outstanding outdoor bases, but the seasons and landscapes are different. Deer Valley is about snow: its groomed, skiers-only slopes, Park City Mountain next door and Cottonwood Canyon powder within an hour. In summer it switches to aspen trails, lift-served biking and fly-fishing on the Provo River.

Sedona is red-rock desert, best in spring and autumn. Cathedral Rock, Devil's Bridge and West Fork are there to walk, mountain bikers come for the slickrock singletrack, and the South Rim of the Grand Canyon is about two hours away.

Sedona has the better outings. Jerome, an old mining town on a mountainside, the Verde Canyon Railroad and the wine country's tasting rooms are all close by. Montezuma Castle, Tuzigoot and the pueblos beyond Flagstaff add real archaeology.

From Deer Valley the main trip is Salt Lake City, for Temple Square and the State Capitol. Midway, the Heber Valley steam railway and Sundance are quieter extras.

Deer Valley is the easier vacation with children, as long as they ski. It has good ski schools and wide beginner runs with no snowboarders, and the Olympic Park adds tubing, a coaster and ziplines. The costs add up fast, though, and the zoo and museums are down in Salt Lake City.

Sedona suits outdoorsy families, and Slide Rock and the jeep tours are the highlights. But there is no zoo or theme park, the hotels are mostly aimed at couples, and the summer heat on exposed trails needs watching.

Deer Valley is much easier without a car. Free buses link its base areas with Main Street, Park City Mountain and Kimball Junction, and with lodging on the slopes many guests barely drive. Salt Lake City airport is about forty minutes away.

Sedona is spread along two highways that meet at the Y. Apart from walkable Uptown, nearly everything needs a car, and parking at the popular trailheads fills early. Most visitors fly into Phoenix, two hours south.

Sedona's shopping has more character. Tlaquepaque has galleries around its courtyards, Native American jewellery, pottery and rugs are sold up and down the main road, and the crystal and metaphysical shops are found almost nowhere else.

Deer Valley has Park City's Main Street galleries, western boots and ski shops, plus the outlet centre at Kimball Junction. Mountain gear is its one speciality. For fashion, both send you to the nearest big city.

Deer Valley is the dearer of the two, and the reason is that its landscape comes with a charge. A winter day on its slopes means paying for lift access at the very top of the market, families add lessons and rented skis, and the rooms near the runs are nearly all luxury. Coming in summer, when the trails replace the lifts, lowers the total without making it a cheap trip.

In Sedona the red rock costs almost nothing to enjoy: a parking pass covers the trails, and a picnic makes an easy lunch. The money goes elsewhere, on resort rooms that are dearest in spring and autumn, on restaurants priced for a resort town, and on the jeep tours, balloon flights and spa treatments that tempt most visitors. In both places the biggest saving is to sleep in a cheaper town and drive in: the Heber Valley or Salt Lake City for Deer Valley, Cottonwood or Flagstaff for Sedona.

Deer Valley has more live performance, mostly in summer, when the Utah Symphony's outdoor festival brings picnics on the grass at Snow Park. The restored 1920s Egyptian Theatre on Main Street puts on plays and concerts all year.

Sedona has no concert hall or theatre season. It has a few chamber concerts, local theatre, the long-running film festival in late winter, and the odd flute or acoustic set in a resort.

Sedona is the stronger retreat by some way. Destination spas look out over the red rock, yoga, meditation and alternative therapies are offered all over town, and the sunrise walks to the vortexes give the slow pace a ritual.

Deer Valley offers comfort rather than a wellness culture: polished hotel spas, hot tubs on the terraces and massages for tired legs. It does have the only natural soak of the two, the warm spring pool inside the Homestead Crater at Midway, since Sedona has no hot springs.