Keystone or Taos?

Neither town has a beach, and neither is somewhere to swim outdoors. Keystone's Dillon Reservoir is for sailing and paddleboarding, not swimming, and the Rio Grande below Taos is for rafting. In both towns a swim means a hotel pool, though Taos can at least offer a soak in a natural hot spring.

Taos has the more interesting table because it has a cuisine of its own. Northern New Mexican dishes with red or green chile, posole and blue corn are served by old family places around the plaza and on the road to Ranchos, and you can buy horno bread at the Pueblo.

Keystone's food is resort food: slopeside grills, après-ski burgers and a gondola-top dining room. It is fine after a day of skiing, but many visitors cook in their condos or drive to Frisco or Breckenridge for more choice.

This is the widest gap between the two. Taos Pueblo is a UNESCO World Heritage site and still a living community, and it is only one part of what Taos offers. There is also the buttressed adobe church that O'Keeffe painted, along with the Harwood and Millicent Rogers museums and the Fechin House, enough for two or three unhurried days.

Keystone was built for skiing in the 1970s, and River Run Village is convenient rather than historic. Its history lies in the old mining cabins up the Snake River valley and the Victorian towns nearby, so a culture trip from Keystone means leaving the resort.

Both towns go quiet soon after dinner, and neither has clubs. In Keystone the evening peaks at après-ski on the River Run decks, and anyone who wants more takes the bus to Breckenridge's Main Street. Taos is slower but has more character: a margarita in an old adobe hotel bar, a brewery taproom or a saloon with a local band.

Both are serious mountain bases, and Keystone has the edge. It has three peaks of its own with bowls above 3,600m, and Arapahoe Basin, Breckenridge, Copper Mountain and Vail are all within reach, so a week can take in several ski areas. In summer there are lift-served bike trails, the 14,000ft summits of Grays and Torreys Peaks, and a paved path linking the Summit County towns.

Taos has one ski valley, known for steep and demanding runs. Its strength is the variety of landscape, from Wheeler Peak and alpine lakes to rafting in the Rio Grande gorge and riding the sagebrush rim on the West Rim. Many visitors also come for the light and the huge skies.

Taos has the slightly better outings. Santa Fe is about an hour and a half away by the High Road, which passes the adobe villages of Truchas, Las Trampas and Chimayó. The O'Keeffe country around Abiquiu and Ghost Ranch is also within reach, so most days out are full of landscape and history.

Keystone's day trips are mostly about mining heritage. Breckenridge, the silver towns of Georgetown and Silver Plume with their loop railway, and the old streets of Leadville are all close, and Denver is near enough for a day of museums if I-70 traffic allows.

Keystone is built around families and it shows. There is a large ski school, a snow fort on the mountain, skating on the frozen lake at Lakeside Village, and paddle boats in summer. Condos close to the lifts keep the days simple.

Taos welcomes children and suits families who like being outdoors, with gentle float trips, horse riding and a recreation centre pool. It has nothing built specifically for children, though, and every outing means time in the car.

In Keystone you can get by without a car. Free shuttles link River Run, Mountain House and Lakeside, and free county buses go to Frisco, Dillon and Breckenridge. The hard part is getting there over I-70 in winter weather.

In Taos only the old centre around the plaza can be walked. The Pueblo, the gorge bridge, the ski valley and every village are spread across a wide valley, and the drive from Albuquerque takes about two and a half hours, so a hire car is part of the trip.

Taos gives you more to browse, as long as you like art and craft. Galleries line the lanes off the plaza and Kit Carson Road, selling turquoise jewellery, micaceous pottery, Rio Grande weaving and carved santos, and you can buy directly from makers at the Pueblo. Keystone has ski gear and rental shops, and its best shopping is the outlet centre in Silverthorne, ten minutes away.

Keystone's big costs come from the mountain itself. Lift access, rooms near the lifts, rental gear and ski school are all charged at big-resort rates, and the weeks around Christmas and spring break push them highest. Where it does save you money is transport and food. The free buses mean you can manage without a hire car, and a condo kitchen stocked from the supermarkets in Dillon keeps you out of the resort restaurants most evenings.

In Taos the balance runs the other way. A plain motel room and a plate of enchiladas cost much less than a slopeside condo and a resort dinner, but the car you collect at Albuquerque is a cost every day of the trip. Away from the ski weeks the gap gets wider still. Keystone in summer costs less without ever becoming a bargain, while Taos is cheapest in the quiet weeks after the ski valley closes and again before the first snow.

Both have a modest offer that comes alive mainly in summer, but the kind of event differs. Keystone has outdoor festival stages, concerts at the reservoir amphitheatre in Dillon, the Breckenridge classical festival and a professional theatre company in Silverthorne. The most memorable events in Taos are the Pueblo's feast-day dances, such as San Gerónimo in late September, which visitors may watch quietly and without cameras. Taos also has a summer chamber music festival.

Taos is the better place to unwind. Ojo Caliente's mineral pools under the cliffs are about fifty minutes away, there are primitive hot springs beside the Rio Grande at the bottom of the gorge, and the town has yoga studios and retreat centres.

Keystone's wellness is mostly about recovering from skiing: resort spas and an outdoor hot tub at nearly every lodge, ideally used while the snow falls. The nearest natural hot springs are over the pass in Idaho Springs.