Mammoth Lakes or Sedona?

Neither town is a swimming destination, but the water is very different. Mammoth Lakes offers cold dips in Horseshoe Lake and the slightly milder Crowley Lake for a few weeks in July and August, and Hot Creek is strictly off limits. In Sedona you swim in Oak Creek: riding the sandstone chute at Slide Rock or dropping into the pools at Grasshopper Point is more of an outing, though these spots are small and crowded on hot weekends.

Both towns eat like resorts, with a limited range and resort prices. Mammoth Lakes serves hearty fuel for skiers: big breakfasts, burgers, steakhouses and beer brewed in town. Sedona leans Southwestern and health-minded, with sunset terraces facing the rocks, and the tasting rooms of the Verde Valley wine country just down the road add a drinking angle that Mammoth lacks.

Neither is a culture destination, but Sedona has more to fill a morning. The Chapel of the Holy Cross, set into a butte, is a real piece of architecture. The galleries show Western and Native American art, and the Sinagua cliff dwellings at Palatki and Honanki are a short drive into the backcountry.

Mammoth Lakes has little beyond its local history museum in a log cabin and the modern Village. Its real heritage lies an hour or more away, at Bodie and Manzanar.

Mammoth Lakes has the livelier evenings, though only in the ski season. Après-ski fills the Village and the bars by the lifts in the late afternoon, brewery taprooms keep going after that, and long weekends can run late.

Sedona's brewpubs, wine bars and resort lounges are for one drink after dinner, and the better show there is the dark sky overhead. Neither town has clubs.

Both towns exist because of their landscapes, so the real difference is the kind of landscape. Mammoth Lakes is alpine and volcanic, with a huge ski mountain, granite-ringed lakes in the Lakes Basin, Devils Postpile and Rainbow Falls, and the Yosemite high country over Tioga Pass when it opens. At about 2,400m, it suits skiers, anglers and paddlers as much as hikers.

Sedona is red sandstone desert, with trails to Cathedral Rock and Devil's Bridge and up the West Fork of Oak Creek, slickrock singletrack for mountain bikers and jeep roads into the backcountry. It is a place for walking in spring and autumn, and the South Rim of the Grand Canyon is about two hours away.

Sedona has the wider choice of outings, all within an easy drive. Jerome's old mining-town streets, the Verde Canyon Railroad, Montezuma Castle and Tuzigoot are all well under an hour away, and Flagstaff opens the way to Walnut Canyon and Wupatki.

From Mammoth Lakes, the towns are few and strung out along the highway. Bodie and Manzanar are both worth the drive of an hour or more, but in winter the passes close and most excursions go into the mountains instead.

Mammoth Lakes is the easier base for a family. In winter there is a large ski school, beginner slopes and a tubing hill. Summer brings rowing boats, trout fishing, the gondola and the bike park, and condominium kitchens make the stay simpler. The altitude can tire small children for the first day or two.

Sedona has Slide Rock and the jeep tours, but much of its lodging is aimed at couples and spa guests, and summer heat on exposed trails calls for care. Families tend to pass through on the way to the Grand Canyon rather than stay long.

A car helps in both towns, but in Mammoth Lakes you can manage without one on a ski trip. Free winter shuttles reach the lift bases and the gondola runs from the Village. In summer a trolley serves the Lakes Basin and a shuttle runs into Reds Meadow, though winter roads may need chains.

Sedona is harder without your own car. Only Uptown is walkable and a shuttle covers just a few busy trailheads. Weekend traffic backs up around the Y and trailhead parking fills early. Most visitors drive up from Phoenix, about two hours away.

Sedona is the better place to browse. The courtyards of Tlaquepaque hold galleries and craft studios, the main road sells Native American jewellery, pottery and rugs, and the crystal and metaphysical shops are a local speciality. Mammoth Lakes shopping is for gear: good ski, climbing and fly-fishing shops, rental outlets and a few landscape photography galleries, with nothing worth a special trip.

Both are expensive, but the costs fall at different times of year. In Mammoth Lakes winter is the costly season, with lift tickets, rentals and lodging at major-resort rates, while summer and the shoulder months are gentler and condominium kitchens help. Sedona's resorts charge the most in spring and autumn, and jeep tours, balloon flights and spa treatments add up, so the usual saving is to sleep in Cottonwood or Flagstaff and drive in.

Neither is a place to plan a trip around performances. Mammoth Lakes has a resident community theatre with seasons through the year, plus summer jazz, chamber music and outdoor concerts in the meadows. Sedona's highlight is its international film festival in late winter, along with chamber concerts and acoustic and Native American flute sets in resorts and bars.

Sedona is the retreat town of the two. Destination spas look out on the red rock, yoga, meditation, breathwork and alternative therapies are everywhere, and sunrise walks to the vortexes are a local ritual. What it has no tradition of is bathing.

Mammoth Lakes offers exactly that: simple volcanic hot springs out in the sagebrush with the Sierra behind, plus hotel spas and hot tubs for legs tired from skiing. It is restful, but simpler and less set up for a dedicated wellness stay.