Keystone or Sedona?

Neither is a place for a beach, but Sedona at least gives you somewhere to swim. Oak Creek runs below the red cliffs, and at Slide Rock you can ride a sandstone chute into cold pools, with deeper holes at Grasshopper Point and Red Rock Crossing on a hot afternoon.

Keystone's Dillon Reservoir is for boats and views. It is fed by snowmelt and mostly closed to swimmers, so in Keystone the water you get into is a hotel pool or hot tub.

Both eat in the resort style, and Sedona has a slight edge. Keystone means slopeside grills, pizza and burgers with craft beer after skiing, with Colorado lamb, elk and trout on the better menus and a gondola ride up to the summit dining room.

Sedona leans Southwestern, with chilli, corn and grilled meat, and it caters well for vegetarian and health-minded eaters. Sunset terraces facing the rocks are what people book. The Verde Valley tasting rooms give it a wine angle, where Keystone's local drink is beer.

Sedona has more to see, though neither is a sightseeing town. The Chapel of the Holy Cross, built into a butte in 1956, is a real architectural sight, and the Sinagua cliff dwellings at Palatki and Honanki and the V Bar V petroglyphs give the area deep history. Add the Heritage Museum and the galleries of Western and Native American art.

Keystone is a ski resort built in the 1970s and has nothing comparable. Its history lies outside the resort, in the mining cabins and ruins of the Snake River valley and the Victorian towns nearby.

Both go quiet early. Keystone has a little more life in the early evening, when skiers still in their boots fill the decks at River Run for après-ski, and Breckenridge's Main Street is a short bus ride away if you want a proper night out. Sedona has brewpubs, wine bars and resort lounges in Uptown that suit a drink after dinner, and then the main entertainment is the clear, dark sky.

These are two of the finest outdoor settings in the country, and they could hardly be more different. Keystone is high alpine country: groomed runs, trees and bowls above 3,600m, Arapahoe Basin nearby, and in summer the 14,000ft Grays and Torreys Peaks, tundra over Loveland Pass and sailing on Dillon Reservoir. Allow a day or two to get used to the thin air.

Sedona is red desert sandstone. Trails lead to Cathedral Rock, Devil's Bridge and Boynton Canyon and up the shaded West Fork, mountain bikers come for the slickrock singletrack, and jeep roads run into the backcountry. The Grand Canyon's South Rim is close enough for a long day out.

The two are level on day trips, and both have a mining past. From Keystone the outings are 19th-century silver and gold towns: Breckenridge, Georgetown and Silver Plume with their loop railway, and Leadville and its opera house, plus Tyrolean-style Vail. Denver is the only city within reach, and weekend traffic on I-70 can slow that trip badly.

From Sedona the theme is older. Montezuma Castle, Tuzigoot, Walnut Canyon and Wupatki are ancient pueblo sites, and hillside Jerome, the roadless canyon ride on the Verde Canyon Railroad and railroad-town Flagstaff round out the list.

Keystone is much better set up for children. Its ski school and gentle lower slopes, tubing, the snow fort on the mountain and the vast skating rink at Lakeside Village fill winter days, and in summer there are paddle boats and easy bike trails. Kitchens in the condos and short walks to the lifts make the logistics simpler.

Sedona works mainly for active families: Slide Rock, the lower Bell Rock paths and jeep tours go down well. Much of the hotel offer, though, is aimed at couples and spa guests, and summer heat and exposed drops on the trails need watching with small children.

Keystone is far easier once you arrive. Free shuttles link River Run, Mountain House and Lakeside, and free county buses reach Dillon, Frisco and Breckenridge, so you can manage without a car until you want the wider mountains.

In Sedona the town is strung out along two highways, and apart from walkable Uptown nearly everything needs a car. Only the busiest trailheads have a shuttle, and parking fills early. You still have to drive or take a shuttle to reach either place: up from Denver over a winter mountain road, or up from Phoenix through the desert.

Sedona is the better place to browse. Tlaquepaque's courtyards hold galleries and craft studios, and the main road is lined with shops selling Western painting and sculpture, Native American jewellery, pottery and rugs, along with the crystal and metaphysical stores the town is known for.

Keystone sells mainly ski gear and rentals. Its one real draw is the large outlet centre in Silverthorne, useful for brand-name outdoor clothing rather than anything you could only buy there.

Both are expensive, and Sedona is only slightly easier on the wallet. In Keystone the costs of a ski trip add up: lift access, rentals, ski school and slopeside condos, and the Christmas, New Year and spring-break weeks are the dearest of all. Summer is gentler, and the free buses and condo kitchens help.

In Sedona the money goes on resort rooms, jeep tours, balloon flights and spa treatments. The trails cost little more than a parking pass, and you can cut the room bill by staying in Cottonwood or Flagstaff and driving in.

Keystone has more to offer, mostly in summer. There are open-air stages in the resort villages, concerts at the amphitheatre beside Dillon Reservoir and a classical festival at Breckenridge's Riverwalk Center. In Silverthorne a professional theatre company plays all year.

Sedona's calendar is thinner. The long-running film festival in late winter is the main event, alongside some chamber music, local theatre and Native American flute playing in resort bars. It has no concert hall or theatre season.

This is Sedona's great advantage. It is one of America's best-known retreat towns, with destination spas facing the canyons, yoga, breathwork and meditation all over town, and sunrise walks to the vortexes in clear, still air.

In Keystone, wellness means recovery after skiing: a massage at a resort spa and a soak in an outdoor hot tub as the snow falls. Neither town has thermal baths, though from Keystone you can at least drive over the pass to the hot springs at Idaho Springs.