Jackson Hole or Mammoth Lakes?

Neither town is a swimming destination. Both are high mountain towns far from the sea, and in each the only swimming is a short midsummer dip in a cold lake.

The lakes are different, though. In Jackson Hole, String Lake is shallow and sandy-bottomed, which makes it the easier swim for a family. Around Mammoth, Horseshoe Lake or the lower Crowley Lake are the usual choices, and the inviting-looking pools of Hot Creek are closed to bathers because the springs are dangerous.

Jackson Hole eats noticeably better. The money that passes through the valley pays for chef-driven dining rooms, serious wine lists and a regional menu of elk, bison, trout and huckleberries, plus a summer farmers' market on the square.

Mammoth Lakes is honest ski-town food: big breakfasts, burgers, pizza, tacos, steakhouses and beer brewed in town. It is filling after a day on the mountain, but it has no cuisine of its own. In either town, cheap meals and a wide range of cuisines are hard to find.

Jackson Hole has more to see, though still not much. The National Museum of Wildlife Art has a serious collection. The antler arches and boardwalks give the town its character, and the Mormon Row barns and the Chapel of the Transfiguration add two memorable stops inside the park.

Mammoth Lakes grew from a mining camp into a resort of lodges and condos. A small history museum in a log cabin is almost all the town has to offer. Here the mountains are the reason to come.

Both towns go quiet before midnight and neither has clubs, but Jackson Hole has more character after dark. Its historic saloon, with saddles for bar stools and a country dance floor, is a night out you would not find elsewhere. Après-ski at Teton Village and a few cocktail bars around the square fill out the rest.

In Mammoth Lakes, going out means après-ski in the Village and a few pub and brewery taprooms. Only long ski weekends keep the bars busy late.

Both are first-rate mountain bases, so the choice comes down to which landscape you want. Jackson Hole has the Tetons rising straight off the valley floor, with Grand Teton National Park on the doorstep and Yellowstone within a long morning's drive. Wildlife is the other draw: moose, bison, bears, eagles and thousands of wintering elk. It also has some of the steepest lift-served skiing in North America, plus rafting on the Snake.

Mammoth Lakes sits in the volcanic, dry Eastern Sierra. The landscape here is granite lakes in the Lakes Basin, Devils Postpile, the tufa towers of Mono Lake and, in summer, the Yosemite high country over Tioga Pass. Its ski season is the longer of the two, and in summer the mountain turns into a lift-served bike park.

Mammoth Lakes has the better day trips. Bodie, a preserved gold-rush ghost town, and Manzanar, the Second World War internment camp, are both worth a full outing. Bishop and Lee Vining on the shore of Mono Lake make easier half-days.

From Jackson Hole, the towns within reach are small: Victor and Driggs over Teton Pass, or the ranch towns of Pinedale and Star Valley. They make a pleasant drive but not a destination. Almost every good day out from Jackson heads into the parks instead.

Both work well for outdoor families and both are small, safe towns, but what children remember differs. In Jackson Hole it is the animals: bison and moose seen from the car, Junior Ranger badges, a sleigh ride through the elk herd, the summer rodeo and the staged shootout on the square.

In Mammoth Lakes, the highlights are a snow tubing hill, rowing boats and trout fishing in the Lakes Basin, and the gondola to the summit. Condos with kitchens make meals with small children easier. Mammoth also sits higher, so the altitude can hit young children harder. In both towns, a wet day leaves little to do.

Mammoth Lakes is easier to manage without a car, especially for skiing. Free winter shuttles connect the lodging areas to the lifts, a gondola runs up from the Village, and in summer a trolley serves the Lakes Basin and a shuttle runs to Reds Meadow.

Jackson Hole has the more walkable town centre and a bus to Teton Village. However, no public transport goes into Grand Teton or Yellowstone, so seeing the parks and wildlife means driving yourself or joining a tour.

Jackson Hole is clearly the better place to shop. Its covered boardwalks are lined with galleries of Western and wildlife art, and you can buy handmade cowboy hats, boots, leather goods and turquoise jewellery, along with a few upscale boutiques.

Mammoth Lakes is for buying or renting what you need on the mountain or the river. It has good ski, climbing and fly-fishing shops, and a handful of landscape photography galleries are about the only browsing.

Neither town is cheap, but Jackson Hole costs the most. It ranks among the most expensive places to stay in the United States, and rafting, wildlife trips and car hire all carry resort prices. Staying over the pass in Idaho is the main way to save.

Mammoth Lakes is very expensive in ski season, mostly because of lift tickets. A summer trip spent hiking and on the lakes is far more manageable there, especially in a self-catering condo.

Jackson Hole has the stronger summer programme. The Grand Teton Music Festival brings players from leading American orchestras to a timber concert hall in Teton Village, and the town adds chuckwagon dinner shows, an arts centre with touring acts and country bands in the saloons.

Mammoth Lakes is more modest. It has a community theatre on the college campus that runs through the year, plus a summer jazz festival and chamber concerts held outdoors with the mountains behind.

Hot springs are the main way to relax in both towns, but the experience differs. Jackson Hole's are proper soaking pools: one in a forested canyon, reached in winter by snowmobile or dog sled, and a riverside park with several pools close to town.

Around Mammoth Lakes, the springs are undeveloped pools out in the sagebrush, reached by dirt road and facing the Sierra. They feel wilder but have no facilities and get crowded at sunset. Beyond the springs, both towns offer hotel spas and massages for tired legs.