Grand Canyon or Zion?

Neither is a place to swim, and in both the real swimming is at a reservoir. From the Grand Canyon that means Lake Powell at Page, which has sandy coves that warm up in summer, but it is several hours' drive from the South Rim. The Colorado at the canyon floor stays cold all year.

Zion's equivalent is much closer. Sand Hollow, about half an hour away near Hurricane, has red-sand shores and warm water from June to September. In the park itself, the Virgin River is for wading only.

Both places feed hikers well enough without giving anyone a reason to come. The Grand Canyon's best meal is in the historic El Tovar dining room. For real choice you drive an hour and a half to Flagstaff, where breweries, diners and Southwestern dishes such as green chile and Navajo frybread give the food a regional flavour.

Zion's food is simpler but closer to the trails. Springdale's single main road has burgers, pizza and Mexican food at the park gate, with cafés that open early for hikers. Utah's liquor rules keep evenings over drinks short, and many visitors simply shop at the supermarkets in Hurricane or St. George.

The Grand Canyon has more human history to see. Grand Canyon Village keeps its early railway-era buildings, Mary Colter's Desert View Watchtower has Hopi murals inside, and the Tusayan ruin preserves an Ancestral Puebloan village. Flagstaff adds Hopi, Navajo and Zuni art at the Museum of Northern Arizona and the observatory where Pluto was found.

Zion's story is thinner and spread more widely. There is the human history museum on the Southern Paiute and Mormon settlers, the 1930 tunnel with windows cut into the cliff, and the ghost town of Grafton. St. George's pioneer temple and dinosaur tracks fill an afternoon at most.

Neither is a place for going out, but the Grand Canyon has slightly more to offer if you base yourself in Flagstaff. Its historic downtown has brewpubs, dive bars and some late venues for the university's students, though it is too far from the rim to combine with a sunrise start.

At Zion, Springdale goes quiet soon after dinner, leaving a couple of brewpub patios. Utah's drinking rules mean even St. George never adds up to a night out.

These are two of the great desert landscapes, and the real difference is where you stand. At the Grand Canyon you mostly look down: the gorge is a mile deep, the colours change through the day, and the views run along miles of rim trail. The serious options are rim-to-rim hikes, mule rides and multi-day rafting on the Colorado, with condors overhead and the forested North Rim for quiet.

At Zion you mostly look up from the canyon floor. You wade the Narrows between walls a few metres apart, climb the chains of Angels Landing, or go canyoneering in slot canyons, and Bryce's hoodoos are about two hours away.

The Grand Canyon has far more to see in a day. From Flagstaff you can reach Sedona's red rocks, the hillside mining town of Jerome, the pueblos at Wupatki, the cliff dwellings of Walnut Canyon and Montezuma Castle. Antelope Canyon lies across the Navajo lands to the east.

From Zion, most spare days go to other parks. For towns and history the list is short: Kanab's Western film-set past, the Mormon fort at Pipe Spring, and Cedar City's frontier museum.

Zion is easier with children. The shuttle removes the battle for parking, the Pa'rus Trail is flat enough to cycle, and the Riverside Walk ends at a spot where children can paddle in the river. Cliff-edge routes such as Angels Landing are still off-limits for small children.

The Grand Canyon gives children an unforgettable first view, the vintage train from Williams and Junior Ranger badges. It also has long unfenced stretches of rim, an altitude above 2,000m and long hours in the car, so it works best with children old enough to walk well.

Both parks let you park the car and ride free shuttles, but they are laid out very differently. At the Grand Canyon, the South Rim is an hour or more by road from Williams or Flagstaff, unless you take the historic train. Shuttles loop the village and Hermit Road, but the North Rim is a four-and-a-half-hour drive away.

Zion is more compact. A shuttle links Springdale's hotels to the entrance and another runs up the scenic drive past each trailhead. Kolob, St. George and Bryce are short drives on good roads, but the nearest big airport is in Las Vegas.

The Grand Canyon has the one purchase worth planning for. Hopi House and the old trading post at Cameron sell Navajo rugs, silver jewellery and Hopi kachina carvings, and the staff can explain who made them.

Zion's shops are mostly practical. Springdale's outfitters rent dry suits and canyoneering gear for the Narrows, a few galleries sell photographs and Southwestern art, and St. George has outlet malls.

Zion is the cheaper of the two. Park entry covers several days and the shuttles are free. Staying in Hurricane or St. George, with chain motels and supermarkets nearby, keeps daily costs down, and winter is cheaper again.

At the Grand Canyon, rooms on the rim and at Tusayan are expensive and book up far ahead, and meals in the park are priced for visitors with nowhere else to go. Motels in Williams or Flagstaff help, but the guided extras, such as mule rides, helicopter flights and rafting on the Colorado, are some of the costliest outings in the West.

Zion has the better evenings out in summer. Near Ivins, the Tuacahn amphitheatre stages Broadway musicals outdoors against red cliffs. The Utah Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City runs a respected repertory from summer into autumn, and Springdale has concerts and films under the canyon walls.

At the Grand Canyon, performances are rarer. A chamber music festival comes to the South Rim in late summer and Native American dancers sometimes perform at Desert View. Flagstaff has a small symphony orchestra and a historic theatre.

Zion has more for a restful stay. A handful of destination spa resorts around Ivins combine treatments and yoga with guided red-rock walks, and several Springdale lodges have spas and pools with canyon views. The catch is that the park itself is busy, so the calm comes at dawn and dusk.

The Grand Canyon has almost no spas. What it offers is stillness: a quiet viewpoint at sunrise or the slower pace of the North Rim forest. For treatments, you would drive to Sedona.