Moab or Park City?

Neither town has a coast, so swimming is a side activity in both. What differs is the water. Moab has the shallow pools of Mill Creek, Ken's Lake and the fast, silty Colorado, while Park City has sandy swimming areas at Jordanelle Reservoir for a short summer season. In both towns, most visitors' swimming happens in the hotel pool.

Park City eats noticeably better. Restaurants on Main Street and at the resort bases serve elk, bison and trout, après-ski on the slopeside decks is part of the day, and Salt Lake City's restaurants are down the canyon when you want more variety.

In Moab, food is fuel after a hike: burgers, tacos, pizza, a couple of breweries and a few more ambitious Southwestern dinners. Expect queues in spring and autumn and less choice in winter. Utah's liquor rules are also more noticeable over dinner in Moab than in Park City's resort atmosphere.

Neither is a town for museums, but Park City has a little more to see without leaving town. Its restored mining-era Main Street, the old headframes on the slopes, the Park City Museum and the Olympic museums at Utah Olympic Park fill an afternoon.

Moab itself offers only the small Museum of Moab. Its real interest lies just outside town, in the Ancestral Puebloan and Fremont petroglyphs along Potash Road and Kane Creek and the nearby dinosaur trackways. In short, Moab's history is rock art, Park City's is mining-town buildings.

Park City has the livelier evenings. Après-ski on the decks moves on to Main Street saloons and cocktail bars, some with DJs or bands, and winter weekends can get rowdy. Moab's few brewpubs and bars empty early because most people are up for a dawn hike, and the best thing to do after dark is look at the stars. Neither town is made for late nights.

Both are among the great outdoor bases of the American West. The difference is the terrain. Moab is desert, with the arches and fins of Arches National Park minutes from town, the canyon views from Island in the Sky and Dead Horse Point, slickrock biking, rafting on the Colorado and canyoneering.

Park City is high mountain country. Two large ski areas rise straight from town, Utah's light powder falls all winter, and Alta and Snowbird are within an hour. In summer it switches to singletrack, lift-served biking and fly fishing. Season matters as much as taste: Moab is best in spring and autumn, Park City in winter or high summer.

Park City has far more within easy reach. Salt Lake City is about 40 minutes down the canyon, with Temple Square, the State Capitol and good museums. Closer in are the Heber Valley steam railway and Midway with its Swiss-style chalets, while Ogden's restored railroad-era street and the canyon road past Sundance make longer outings of an hour or so.

From Moab, day trips mean long drives to small places: the old stone houses of Bluff, Edge of the Cedars in Blanding and the towers of Hovenweep. They reward an interest in Ancestral Puebloan history, but there is no city within a short drive.

Park City is the easier base for a family. Ski schools, free buses, the alpine coaster and ziplines at the Olympic Park and the summer slides at the resort bases keep children busy without much planning. Altitude and winter costs take some managing.

Moab can be a great adventure for school-age children. There are short walks to Sand Dune Arch, dinosaur tracks, family raft floats and Junior Ranger programmes. But summer heat, unfenced drops and constant driving make it a poor choice for many families with toddlers.

This is where the two differ most once you arrive. In Park City, free buses link Old Town, both ski bases and Kimball Junction, so the car can stay parked, though one helps for excursions. Moab's centre is walkable and a paved path runs to the Arches entrance, but everything else needs a car, ideally high-clearance, or a place on an outfitter's tour.

Park City has proper resort browsing. Main Street has galleries, Western wear and cowboy boots, ski fashion and jewellers, and Kimball Junction adds an outlet centre. Moab's shops are practical: bike and climbing gear, rock shops selling geodes and fossils, and a few galleries with Navajo jewellery and weavings. For fashion, neither replaces a trip to a real city.

Neither is cheap, but Moab costs less. Its simple motels charge high prices in spring and autumn, yet campgrounds, dispersed camping and free hikes make a low-cost trip possible, and winter is much cheaper.

In Park City, lift tickets, slopeside lodging and ski school are among the most expensive in North America, and the Christmas and New Year weeks cost even more. Summer and autumn are cheaper, and many visitors on a budget stay in Salt Lake City or the Heber Valley.

Park City has a year-round stage in the Egyptian Theatre, a 1920s playhouse, along with touring shows at the Eccles Center and summer concerts by the Utah Symphony on the lawns at Deer Valley. Moab's highlight is a single event, the Moab Music Festival at the end of summer. Its chamber concerts in canyon grottoes reached by boat are memorable, but the rest of the year offers little more than a band in a brewpub.

Park City is far better for unwinding. The big lodges at Deer Valley and the Canyons base have polished spas, and outdoor hot tubs come with most stays. At the Homestead Crater in Midway you can swim in water at about 35°C inside a limestone dome.

Moab has only a few small massage studios and no hot springs worth the drive. Its calm comes from the setting instead: red cliffs at sunset and quiet desert evenings. Visitors who want real rest tend to book a ranch or a cabin in the La Sal Mountains.