Estes Park or Telluride?

Both are high mountain towns far from any coast, so neither works for swimming. The difference is small: Estes Park has Lake Estes on its doorstep for paddling and a shoreline walk, plus an indoor aquatic centre for an actual swim.

Telluride's nearest bathing spot is a reservoir about an hour away near Ridgway, so water time there usually means rafting or fishing on the river.

Telluride is the better place to eat. Resort money keeps a few ambitious kitchens going in town and Mountain Village, cooking Colorado lamb, trout and Western Slope produce, and the wine lists are deeper than you would expect.

Estes Park stays with gateway-town comfort food: barbecue, bison burgers, big diner breakfasts, breweries and the taffy shops on Elkhorn Avenue. It is satisfying after a hike, but quality is uneven and many kitchens close early. In both towns the range is narrow over a long stay.

Neither town is a cultural destination, and the heritage they offer is quite different. Estes Park has one famous building, the Stanley Hotel of The Shining fame, with tours and ghost stories, plus a small museum and a historic cattle ranch.

In Telluride the whole town is the sight: a mining-boom grid of clapboard houses and false-fronted storefronts protected as a National Historic Landmark, with mill ruins on the canyon walls above. Either fills an afternoon.

Telluride has the livelier evenings. Après-ski and old Victorian saloons on Colorado Avenue keep the main street busy until late in peak ski weeks and on festival weekends, though there are no clubs.

Estes Park goes to bed early. A brewery taproom or saloon bar for a drink after the trail is about it, since most visitors are up before dawn to look for wildlife.

Both are superb mountain bases, and the choice depends on what you want to do. Estes Park opens straight onto Rocky Mountain National Park, with Trail Ridge Road crossing the alpine tundra, lakes such as Bear and Emerald, and wildlife everywhere, from elk bugling in autumn to moose and bighorn sheep.

Telluride is more dramatic and more active. Waterfalls and 4,000m peaks rise from the end of the main street, and there is a via ferrata, mountain biking, four-wheel driving over the old mining passes and a proper ski area in winter, which Estes Park lacks.

Estes Park has the better choice of days out, with Boulder and Fort Collins about an hour away and Denver's museums not much further, plus Grand Lake over Trail Ridge Road in summer.

Telluride is more isolated. Ouray, Ridgway and Silverton are attractive old towns reached over mountain roads, and Mesa Verde's cliff dwellings are the one major site, but they mean a long day, and winter passes can close.

Estes Park is the easier family destination. Elk in the streets, junior ranger programmes, short lake walks, horse riding and an aerial tramway keep children busy, and cabins with kitchens help with the cost.

Telluride suits active families who ski, with a good ski school and a gondola ride that children love, but there is less to do in summer or on a wet day. The higher altitude and the prices make it harder with small children.

Telluride is far easier once you have arrived. The historic grid takes a quarter of an hour to cross on foot, and the free gondola and buses link it with Mountain Village and the slopes, so many visitors never drive.

Estes Park has a walkable centre and summer shuttles to Bear Lake, but most trailheads, Trail Ridge Road and the towns on the plains need a car, and summer weekends bring traffic. Getting there is simpler, though: Denver is an hour and a half by road, while Telluride's airport is often hit by weather.

Both offer an hour of browsing rather than real shopping, but the mood differs. Elkhorn Avenue in Estes Park is mostly souvenirs, taffy, western wear and wildlife art.

Colorado Avenue in Telluride is more upmarket, with galleries, jewellery boutiques, bookshops and ski gear at resort prices.

Estes Park is clearly the cheaper of the two, though it is not cheap in summer. Winter and spring rooms cost far less, cabins let you cook, and the park itself costs little more than the entrance fee.

Telluride is priced for second-home owners, and lift tickets, guided activities and meals all sit at the top of the market. Staying down in Ridgway saves money but means a daily drive.

Telluride has far more to offer. The Bluegrass Festival in Town Park is famous, the summer adds jazz, blues and chamber music and the film festival, and the historic Sheridan Opera House holds shows all year.

Estes Park has free riverside concerts in summer, evenings at the Stanley Hotel and the Highland Festival with its pipe bands in September, and little the rest of the year.

Telluride is better for pampering. Mountain Village hotels have full spas, and the hot springs pools at Ouray and near Ridgway make an easy afternoon soak about an hour away.

Estes Park has no hot springs and only a few lodge spas. What it offers is the quiet of a riverside cabin with elk at dusk, especially restful in winter and spring.