Flagstaff or Jackson Hole?

Neither place is for swimming, but Jackson Hole has a slight edge in late summer, when shallow, sandy-bottomed String Lake beneath the Tetons warms up enough for a proper swim. In Flagstaff the nearest option is a drive down to the cold, slippery creek pools of Oak Creek Canyon, like Slide Rock, and those get crowded at weekends.

Both towns eat on a small scale, but in very different ways. Flagstaff is a beer town, with craft taprooms around downtown and the Southside, plus Mexican and New Mexican cooking and some Navajo frybread and green chile. Meals are casual and fairly cheap.

Jackson is richer and narrower. Money from the valley pays for chef-led dining rooms serving elk, bison, trout and huckleberries, and some serious wine lists, but cheap eating is hard to find.

Flagstaff has the better short list. The Lowell Observatory, where Pluto was discovered in 1930, and the Museum of Northern Arizona's Hopi, Navajo and Zuni collections are proper attractions, and the Riordan Mansion and the brick Route 66 downtown add another half-day.

Jackson's sights are more about scenery: the antler arches on the Town Square, the National Museum of Wildlife Art, and the Mormon Row barns and the log chapel with the Tetons behind them. You can see them all in a day between hikes.

Expect early nights in either town; the difference is what drives the crowd. Flagstaff's taprooms, cocktail bars and old Route 66 saloons around downtown and the Southside are livelier on term-time weekends, thanks to the university students. Jackson follows the ski calendar: loud après-ski in Teton Village in winter, a historic saloon with saddle bar stools and country dancing in town, and nearly empty bars in spring and autumn.

Both are outstanding mountain bases, but Jackson Hole is in another league. The Tetons rise straight from the valley floor, Grand Teton National Park starts minutes from town, and Yellowstone is within a day's reach. The wildlife is the real difference: moose, bison, bald eagles, bears and thousands of wintering elk.

Flagstaff offers more variety than drama. It has the San Francisco Peaks, a huge ponderosa forest, Sunset Crater's lava flows, Sedona's red rock and the Grand Canyon's South Rim, all under some of the darkest skies of any town.

This is where Flagstaff pulls far ahead. In different directions you can reach Sedona, the hillside mining town of Jerome, the cliff dwellings at Montezuma Castle, the Sinagua ruins at Walnut Canyon and Wupatki, the railway from Williams to the Grand Canyon and the Hopi mesas.

From Jackson, nearly every outing heads into the parks instead of to another town. The Idaho farm towns over Teton Pass and the ranch towns to the south are pleasant drives, but none is worth a whole day.

Flagstaff copes better with a rainy afternoon, since the dinosaur and geology displays at the Museum of Northern Arizona are indoors. Clear evenings add telescope viewing at Lowell, and winter brings sledding on the mountain. In both places the altitude and long drives tire small children.

Jackson suits families who come for the animals: moose, bison and elk seen from the car, Junior Ranger badges, a winter sleigh ride through the elk herd and the summer rodeo. On a wet day, though, there is little to fall back on.

Both have walkable centres, and in both a car is needed for anything further. Flagstaff has a long-distance train station downtown and paved urban trails that make cycling around town practical. Jackson has an airport just north of town inside the national park and a ski-season bus to Teton Village, but nothing goes into Grand Teton or Yellowstone.

Shopping is limited in both, and each has one speciality. In Flagstaff it is Native American craft: Navajo rugs, Hopi kachina carvings, pottery and silver and turquoise jewellery from galleries and trading posts. Jackson's boardwalks around the square are lined with Western and wildlife art galleries, handmade cowboy hats and boots, high-end mountain gear and a few upscale boutiques.

Flagstaff is much easier on the wallet. It is moderately priced by American standards and is the cheap bed base for the Grand Canyon, though you still need to budget for a hire car and park fees.

Jackson Hole is one of the most expensive places to stay in the country, and rooms, meals, lift tickets and guided trips all cost resort prices. The trails and roadside wildlife are free once you get there, and coming in late spring or autumn helps.

Neither town is worth planning a trip around for performances, but the timing is different. Flagstaff has a modest programme all year, with its symphony orchestra, university concerts and touring bands at the restored Orpheum Theater. Jackson saves its best for summer, when the Grand Teton Music Festival brings orchestral players to Teton Village, alongside chuckwagon dinner shows. Outside the season there is little on.

Jackson Hole is better for rest. It has natural hot springs, including a forest pool reached by snowmobile or dog sled in winter and soaking pools beside the Snake River, plus resort spas built around sore skiers.

Flagstaff has no hot springs and only a few day spas. Its calm comes from cool pine-scented evenings and starry skies, and anyone wanting treatments drives about an hour to Sedona.