Moab or Palm Springs?

Neither town has a beach, and both are a long way from the sea. The difference is in how you cool off. In Moab it means Mill Creek's pools, Ken's Lake or a careful dip in the cold, silty Colorado. Palm Springs is built around the hotel pool, and lounging beside one is a central part of any stay.

Moab's food is fuel for hikers and bikers: burgers, tacos, pizza, breweries and early coffee on Main Street. There is less choice in winter, and Utah's alcohol rules make a drink with dinner more formal than you might expect.

Palm Springs eats better, if not grandly. Shaded brunch patios and poolside cocktails set the tone, and the valley adds date shakes from the Indio groves and honest Mexican taquerias further east. Neither is a place for serious dining, but Palm Springs gives a leisurely meal much more of a setting.

The gap here is wide. Moab's cultural interest lies mostly outside town, in the Ancestral Puebloan and Fremont rock art along Potash Road and Kane Creek and in the dinosaur trackways. The small Museum of Moab fills a morning.

Palm Springs is a place to look at buildings. Albert Frey's houses, Neutra's Kaufmann House and the Alexander homes of Twin Palms and Vista Las Palmas make a full day by bike or car, and the art museum and the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum add depth. Anyone drawn to design will find far more here.

Moab goes to bed early. A few brewpubs fill with rafters and riders, and after that there is silence and a dark, star-filled sky. Palm Springs offers a proper evening out, with the LGBTQ bars and drag nights of Arenas Road, retro cocktail lounges on Palm Canyon Drive and pool parties in spring, although it has hardly any clubs and little going on in the small hours.

Both are superb desert bases, but Moab is in a class of its own. Arches begins minutes from town and Canyonlands and Dead Horse Point are within the hour. Few places on earth match its range of activity, from Slickrock and the Whole Enchilada to rafting, canyoneering and jeep trails.

Palm Springs has a different strength, which is contrast. The tramway lifts you from palm desert to pine forest on San Jacinto, the Indian Canyons hide oases, and Joshua Tree is an hour away. It suits a handful of memorable winter hikes, while Moab suits a week of hard outdoor days in spring or autumn.

From Moab, most outings are simply more landscape. The nearby towns of Green River, Monticello and Bluff are small, and the most rewarding trip is the long drive south to Edge of the Cedars and Hovenweep.

Palm Springs has more variety within an hour or so: the pine village of Idyllwild, the lived-in Western film set at Pioneertown, the strange shores of the Salton Sea with Salvation Mountain, and Temecula's wineries. From either town you will need a car.

The two are close for families but suit different children. Moab is for active school-age kids who will scramble to Sand Dune Arch, earn Junior Ranger badges and float the calm stretches of the Colorado, though unfenced drops and long drives make it hard work with toddlers.

Palm Springs is a pool vacation with a few outings, such as the Living Desert zoo, the tramway and the Air Museum. Many of its boutique hotels are adults-only, though, so families do better in the large resorts further down the valley.

Both centres are easy to walk, and both need a car for everything that matters. Moab has no useful public transport, and its trailheads often lie down dirt tracks, so a high-clearance vehicle or an outfitter's shuttle makes a real difference. Palm Springs is a little easier, with slow valley buses, flat neighbourhoods that are good for cycling in the cooler months and an airport on the edge of town.

Moab sells what you need for the trail, such as bikes, climbing gear and camping kit, along with rock shops and Navajo jewellery. Palm Springs is a real shopping destination for mid-century furniture, lighting and vintage clothing in the Uptown Design District, and El Paseo's polished boutiques and the Cabazon outlets are a short drive away.

Neither is cheap, but the costs fall at different times of year. Moab is expensive in spring and autumn, though free hikes, a single park pass for the week and inexpensive campgrounds let budget travellers stretch a trip, and winter is much cheaper. Palm Springs costs most from winter into spring and on festival weekends, and summer is its bargain season if you can bear the heat.

Moab's live performance comes down to one memorable event, the Moab Music Festival at the end of summer, with chamber concerts in canyon grottoes reached by boat. Palm Springs has a fuller season: drag cabaret and piano bars in town, touring shows at the McCallum Theatre, concerts at the valley's casinos and, each April, the Coachella and Stagecoach festivals at Indio.

This is where Palm Springs pulls furthest ahead. The town grew up around the Agua Caliente hot spring, and in Desert Hot Springs the spa motels fill their pools with mineral water straight from the ground. The whole pace of a stay, with late breakfasts and long afternoons by the pool, is made for switching off.

Moab offers stillness, not pampering. It has a few massage studios for sore legs, dark skies and red cliffs at sunset, and visitors who want real rest usually go to a remote ranch or a cabin in the La Sals.