Estes Park or Gatlinburg?

Neither town has a beach, so swimming plays almost no part in a vacation in either. In Estes Park the snowmelt lakes, Lake Estes included, are for paddling, fishing and shoreline walks, and real swimming means a pool or the indoor aquatic centre.

Gatlinburg's summer heat makes its cold rivers more inviting. Tubing on the Little River near Townsend and a swim at Douglas Lake give children some splashing, though currents need watching after rain.

Both towns serve hearty, casual resort food and neither is worth the trip for eating. Estes Park leans western, with elk and bison, barbecue and a few breweries, and many kitchens shut early outside summer.

Gatlinburg runs on pancake houses, Southern comfort cooking and moonshine tastings, with Appalachian trout, country ham and stack cake turning up here and there. For a serious meal you drive to Boulder or Denver from one, and to Knoxville or Asheville from the other.

Sightseeing is thin in both towns, and the heritage is of different kinds. Estes Park has one landmark people have heard of, the Stanley Hotel that inspired The Shining, plus a small homesteading museum and the MacGregor Ranch.

Gatlinburg has no comparable building. Its heritage lives in the craft studios of the Arts and Crafts Community and in the pioneer cabins, mills and churches out at Cades Cove and along the Roaring Fork.

Gatlinburg has a little more life after dark. The lit Parkway draws people out for a stroll, and moonshine tasting rooms and rooftop terraces stay busy into the evening before the strip empties. Estes Park offers a drink in a brewery taproom or saloon on Elkhorn Avenue and little past ten. Neither town has clubs.

Both towns are gateways to great national parks, but the landscapes could hardly be more different. Estes Park's park is high and open: meadows give way to alpine tundra, Trail Ridge Road crosses above 3,700m and Longs Peak rises to 4,346m. Elk graze in town, and their autumn rut fills the meadows at dusk.

The Smokies around Gatlinburg are lower, greener and enclosed, with deep hardwood forest, waterfall trails like Laurel Falls and black bears along the roads. Spring wildflowers, synchronous fireflies, October foliage and rafting on the Pigeon River are its draws, but its roads and trailheads jam more often, which gives Estes Park the slight edge for big wild scenery.

Gatlinburg has the better range of outings. Asheville and the Biltmore Estate are about an hour and a half away, and across Newfound Gap lie Cherokee, with its museum and Oconaluftee village, and the heritage railway at Bryson City. Knoxville and Pigeon Forge are closer still.

From Estes Park the choices are pleasant college and city towns on the plains, namely Boulder, Fort Collins and Denver, plus Grand Lake over Trail Ridge Road in summer. None has quite the pull of the Biltmore or Cherokee.

Gatlinburg is built for children, with an aquarium, mirror mazes, alpine coasters and gondola-reached treetop bridges on the Parkway, and Dollywood with its water park close by. Cabins with games rooms make big family groups easy, if you can bear the high-season queues.

Estes Park suits families who mainly want the outdoors: elk in town, junior ranger badges, flat lake walks and the Prospect Mountain tramway. The altitude takes a day to adjust to, and a wet afternoon leaves little to fall back on.

Estes Park's free summer shuttles run into the national park itself, along the Bear Lake corridor, so hikers can leave the car in town and avoid the trailhead parking. Outside those shuttles and the warm months, there is no rail link and almost everything needs a car.

Gatlinburg's trolley does a different job. It loops through town and out to Pigeon Forge for attractions and shows rather than trails. Most visitors stay in cabins up steep, winding roads, though, and in October the Parkway can stall for long stretches.

Gatlinburg gives shoppers more to do. Beyond the souvenir strip, artisans in the Arts and Crafts Community sell quilts, pottery, brooms and woodwork from their own studios, and the Pigeon Forge and Sevierville outlet malls cover brands.

Estes Park offers an hour's browse on Elkhorn Avenue, with taffy, western wear, outdoor gear and some wildlife galleries. For anything more you head down to Boulder or Denver.

Gatlinburg is the easier place on the wallet. Older motels and big shared cabins are good value, especially midweek and in winter, although Parkway attractions and Dollywood tickets add up quickly for a family.

Estes Park's lodging is expensive through summer and early autumn, which is exactly when most people want to go. Winter and spring are far cheaper, and once inside the park the hiking and wildlife cost little.

Gatlinburg has far more evening entertainment. Theatres in Pigeon Forge stage country and gospel revues, magic and dinner shows most nights of the year, bluegrass players perform in the tasting rooms, and Dollywood keeps mountain music in its programme.

Estes Park has a short summer season of free concerts at the riverside performance park, evenings at the Stanley Hotel and the Scottish-Irish Highland Festival in September.

Estes Park's restful stay is a cabin by a river in winter or spring, after the summer crowds have gone, when an evening means thin mountain air, elk at dusk and very little else. Gatlinburg's is a hillside cabin with a hot tub on the deck and mist settling on the ridges. Book it well above the Parkway, because the crowds and amusement noise down there are the opposite of calm.

In either town, pampering is limited to a few resort and lodge spas, and neither has hot springs.