Jackson Hole or Telluride?

Jackson Hole at least gives you a real swim for a few weeks. By late summer, String Lake at the foot of the Tetons is shallow and sandy-bottomed and warm enough to enjoy after a hike, while Jenny Lake and the bigger lakes stay cold.

Telluride has nothing like it. The nearest bathing is a reservoir near Ridgway about an hour away, and even there the water stays cool. Neither is a reason to come for swimming, but in Jackson a swim can fit into a summer day.

The two eat at much the same level: more ambitious than towns this size usually manage, but with a narrow range and almost nothing cheap. The difference is in flavour. Jackson leans Western, with elk, bison and trout, huckleberries in everything, steakhouses and saloon burgers around the Town Square, and a farmers' market in summer.

Telluride cooks more modern American food, with Colorado lamb and Western Slope produce, plus taquerias, craft beer and deep wine lists. Its tables are split between Colorado Avenue and Mountain Village, and they are hard to get on festival weekends.

Neither town is a cultural destination, but their sights are very different. In Jackson the memorable moments are out in the landscape: the Mormon Row barns and the log chapel framing the Tetons, plus a fine collection at the National Museum of Wildlife Art.

In Telluride the town itself is the sight. The whole mining-boom grid of clapboard houses and false-fronted stores is a National Historic Landmark. Add the museum in the old miners' hospital and the mill ruins on the canyon walls, and an easy afternoon on foot covers it.

Both go quiet early, and neither has a club. Jackson has slightly more going on. The après-ski bars in Teton Village are loud at the end of the ski day, and the classic night out in town is a historic saloon with saddle bar stools and a country dance floor. Telluride's evenings stay on Colorado Avenue in Victorian saloons, and the town only stays up late during peak ski weeks and festival weekends.

These are two of the finest mountain bases in America, and the difference is in character more than quality. Jackson opens onto a wide valley, with the Tetons rising sheer from the sagebrush. It has the wildlife: grizzlies, bison, pronghorn and the wintering elk herd, with Yellowstone beyond and a tram up to some of the steepest lift-served skiing on the continent.

Telluride is a closed box canyon, with waterfalls, cliffs and peaks above 4,000m around the end of the main street. Its own specialities are Bridal Veil Falls, the via ferrata, jeep roads over old mining passes and summer wildflower basins. The town's altitude takes a day or two to get used to.

Telluride has more places to drive out to. Ridgway is under an hour away, Victorian Ouray in its canyon a little further, and Silverton, at the end of the narrow-gauge railway, sits over Red Mountain Pass. Mesa Verde's cliff dwellings are just about possible as a long day out.

From Jackson almost every outing goes into the parks rather than to another town. The Idaho farm towns of Victor and Driggs make a pleasant drive over Teton Pass, but they are not worth a day of their own.

Jackson Hole gives children more to remember. They can spot animals from the car, earn Junior Ranger badges in two national parks, take a gentle float on the Snake and a winter sleigh ride among the elk, and in summer there are rodeo nights and the staged shootout on the square.

Telluride suits active families who are happy with simpler days. Children like the gondola ride, and there are a good ski school, easy waterfall walks and parks by the river. Its greater altitude can cost young children sleep in the first days. Neither has zoos or indoor attractions for wet days.

Telluride is much easier once you arrive. You can cross the historic town on foot in a quarter of an hour, a free gondola runs up to Mountain Village and the slopes, and free buses cover the rest, so many visitors never drive. Getting there is the hard part, with a weather-prone local airport and the bigger ones far away.

Jackson is the reverse. Its airport sits a short drive north of town, but outside the walkable centre and the ski bus to Teton Village, everything needs a car: trailheads, both parks and wildlife watching at dawn.

Jackson offers a little more to browse. Its boardwalks hold a large cluster of Western and wildlife art galleries, plus handmade cowboy hats, boots, leather and turquoise jewellery, with a few upscale boutiques for wealthy valley residents.

Telluride's few blocks of Colorado Avenue are mostly galleries, Western clothing, a couple of good bookshops and outdoor gear. Neither has department stores or markets.

Both are among the most expensive places to stay in the country, and the gap between them hardly matters. What differs is how you save. In Jackson, you can stay over the pass in Idaho or come in late spring or autumn, and once you are there the trails and roadside wildlife cost little beyond park fees.

In Telluride, the free gondola and buses mean you can skip a hire car if you stay in town. Ridgway is cheaper but means a daily drive. Avoid the Christmas weeks and festival weekends, when prices are highest.

Telluride has the stronger summer calendar. The Bluegrass Festival in Town Park has been running since the 1970s and is famous in its genre, and around it come jazz, blues and chamber music weekends and the Labor Day film festival. The Sheridan Opera House keeps some shows going all year.

Jackson's highlight is the Grand Teton Music Festival, with classical concerts by orchestral players in Teton Village. Otherwise there are chuckwagon dinner shows and country bands, and little once summer ends.

Both are good places to rest, with quiet evenings and hotel spas for tired skiers. Jackson's hot springs are closer. One soaking park sits on the Snake River near town, and another pool in a forest canyon is reached by snowmobile or dog sled in winter.

From Telluride the springs at Ouray and Ridgway are about an hour's drive, so a soak takes up an afternoon. The altitude can also make the first nights restless.