Mount Rainier or Sequoia?

Neither region is a swimming destination, but Sequoia gives a swimmer slightly more. In late summer there are granite pools on the Kaweah around Three Rivers, and Hume Lake has a small sandy shore and calm water. Its rivers run dangerously fast in spring, though.

At Rainier the park lakes stay icy all summer, so swimming means a lowland reservoir such as Alder Lake near Elbe.

Sequoia eats a little better, mainly because the San Joaquin Valley is so close. Summer fruit stands sell stone fruit and nuts straight from the orchards, and Visalia and Fresno have good taquerias and Mexican bakeries. Fresno also has Armenian and Hmong cooking.

Rainier's gateway towns offer diners, pizza and the odd brewpub, and the best meal is often a picnic at a trailhead. In both regions the park lodges serve hearty, plain dining-room food.

Rainier has more built heritage to look at. The rustic stone and timber buildings at Longmire set the template for American park architecture, and the great beamed lobby of Paradise Inn is worth a visit even if you are not staying.

Sequoia's human story is told in smaller places: the rock paintings and grinding holes at Hospital Rock, Tharp's Log and the Giant Forest Museum. Its most memorable sight is the guided tour of Crystal Cave, a marble cave rather than a building.

Both regions go quiet at dusk, and evenings mean a campfire, a ranger talk or the stars. The small difference is that Sequoia has Visalia's few downtown bars down in the valley. At Rainier, a beer at a tavern in Ashford or Packwood is as late as it gets.

Both are among the great mountain parks of North America, so the choice comes down to the kind of landscape you want. Rainier is ice and volcano: glaciers seen from the Skyline Trail and from Sunrise, alpine meadows in flower in late summer and moss-hung rainforest in the Carbon River valley. The Wonderland Trail circles the whole mountain, and guides take experienced parties to the summit.

Sequoia is trees and granite. You walk among sequoias thousands of years old in the Giant Forest, climb Moro Rock's stairway for a view across to the Great Western Divide, and follow the sheer walls of Kings Canyon at Cedar Grove. Mineral King is the quiet base for serious hiking, and long trails lead over high passes towards Mount Whitney. Expect marmots and mountain goats at Rainier, and black bears at Sequoia.

Rainier has much better options for a day away from the park. Tacoma's waterfront museums, including a glass museum with a working hot shop, are about an hour and a half away, Olympia is a similar drive, and Seattle can be tacked on to the trip.

From Sequoia, the main outing is to Fresno's hand-dug Forestiere Underground Gardens, with Visalia's old downtown and the history at Hanford and Colonel Allensworth as smaller extras. The flat farmland in between gives a sightseer little reason to linger.

For an outdoorsy family the two are about equal, but children will remember different things. At Rainier it is snow at Paradise in early summer, marmots close up and the roaring slot at Box Canyon. Outside the park there are also the tram past bison and wolves at Northwest Trek and the steam railway from Elbe.

At Sequoia it is driving through the Tunnel Log, standing at the foot of the General Sherman and the Crystal Cave tour. The switchback roads are hard on carsick children, though, and the spring rivers call for close watching.

Both regions need a car, but Rainier's roads are a little easier. Its gateway towns sit around the mountain, so basing yourself in Ashford for the south side or in Packwood or Enumclaw for the east and north keeps the daily drives manageable.

Sequoia means more hairpins: the Generals Highway climbs through dozens of them, long vehicles are restricted on the steepest section, and Cedar Grove and Mineral King are long drives down roads open only in summer. Its one advantage is the summer shuttle around the Giant Forest and a seasonal bus from Visalia, which Rainier lacks entirely.

Neither region is a place to shop. Each has park gift shops, general stores and a few small galleries in the gateway towns. Sequoia's valley fruit stands are the more local buy, and at Rainier the advice is to buy outdoor gear in Seattle or Tacoma before you arrive.

The costs are much the same: free trails once you are inside, scarce lodging that fills for summer, and plain American prices for meals. In both, camping is the way to save.

Sequoia has the cheaper fallback of sleeping in Visalia and driving up each day, at the cost of long hours on mountain roads. At Rainier the shoulder months of June and late September are the main way to bring room prices down.

Sequoia is slightly better for a night of music or theatre, though only if you are willing to drive down after dark. Visalia's restored Fox Theatre and Fresno's orchestra and historic theatres put on concerts and touring shows. At Rainier there is nothing nearer than Tacoma or Seattle, so a ranger talk at a campground amphitheatre is the evening's programme.

Neither has spas or a bathing culture, and the hot springs at Ohanapecosh are for looking at, not soaking in. Both offer the same rest, a cabin and silence, but in different settings. At Rainier that means river noise under dripping firs near Ashford or Packwood, out of phone range. At Sequoia it means a creekside cottage in Three Rivers or a cabin by the groves, with dry, starry nights.