Park City or Whitefish?

Neither town has a coast, but Whitefish has the better swimming. City Beach sits on Whitefish Lake right at the edge of town, with a sandy strip and a swimming dock, and Flathead Lake to the south adds clear water and pebbly state park shores.

In Park City you have to drive down the valley to Jordanelle Reservoir to swim, and most visitors only get in the water in hotel pools and hot tubs. Both towns have a short, cool swimming season, mainly in July and August.

Park City eats better, mainly because its wealthy ski crowd supports polished dining rooms on Main Street and at the resort bases, and après-ski on the slopeside decks is a ritual in itself. When the menus start to repeat, Salt Lake City's restaurants are a drive down the canyon.

Whitefish serves similar elk, bison and trout along Central Avenue, but in a smaller, more casual set of places that you will run through within a week. What it has that Park City lacks is a local flavour: huckleberries in pies, milkshakes and cocktails through late summer, plus craft breweries and a distilling tradition.

Neither town is a reason to come for sights, but Park City has a bit more to fill an afternoon. Its silver-mining past is still visible in the wooden storefronts on Main Street and the headframes on the slopes. The Park City Museum, jail cells and all, tells the story well, and the Olympic Park adds ski and Olympic museums.

Whitefish has the timber Great Northern depot and the small railway and logging museum inside it, and not much else beyond a few older downtown frontages.

Both are small-town scenes that are over well before the small hours, so the difference is in style and season. Park City's evenings revolve around winter: après-ski on the decks, then cocktail bars and a few places with DJs or bands on Main Street, and the town goes quiet once the ski season ends.

Whitefish has more of a ranch-country feel, with old saloons, pool tables and brewery taprooms on Central Avenue where ski bums and ranchers drink side by side. Its summer evenings on the patios are livelier than Park City's off-season nights.

Both towns are first-rate mountain bases, but they suit different seasons. Park City is built around winter. Two big ski areas start from the streets, Utah's dry powder falls all season, and Alta, Snowbird, Brighton and Solitude are an hour or less away. In summer, its singletrack and lift-served bike trails leave straight from town.

Whitefish comes into its own in summer. Glacier National Park starts within a short drive, with the Highline Trail, Grinnell Glacier, the Going-to-the-Sun Road and wildlife such as grizzlies and mountain goats. Big Mountain gives it proper skiing too, but the park's high country is only reliably open from July to September.

Park City has more towns within reach. Salt Lake City, with Temple Square, the Capitol and its museums, is under an hour's drive, and the Heber Valley steam railway, Swiss-style Midway and railroad-era Ogden are all close.

Whitefish's outings are smaller in scale: Kalispell's Conrad Mansion, the galleries and summer theatre in Bigfork, and the mission church at St Ignatius two hours south. Most days out from Whitefish go into the park instead.

Park City is clearly the easier place with children. Ski schools at both areas, free buses to the slopes, and the alpine coaster, ziplines and freestyle splash pool at the Olympic Park keep most ages busy, and Salt Lake City's zoo and aquarium are within an hour. The altitude can tire small children for the first day or two.

Whitefish works well for families who already like the outdoors, with an alpine slide, a scenic chairlift, calm water at City Beach and easy walks such as the Trail of the Cedars. Children who are not keen on hiking or paddling will run out of things to do, and the drives into the park are long.

Park City is much easier without a car. Free buses link Old Town, both ski bases and Kimball Junction, and the airport shuttle takes about 40 minutes, although you will want a car for trips to the other valleys.

Whitefish has one unusual advantage: the long-distance train stops at the downtown depot, which is a few walkable blocks wide. Beyond the winter ski shuttle, though, Glacier, Flathead Lake and the trailheads are spread along rural highways, and a hire car is close to essential.

Park City offers more choice, with upscale ski fashion, jewellers and galleries along Main Street and an outlet centre at Kimball Junction. Whitefish's Central Avenue is more modest and more local: outfitters, wildlife and landscape art, boots, and Montana-made goods such as huckleberry jam. You can browse either in an afternoon, and in both towns the serious shopping is somewhere else.

Neither town is cheap, but Whitefish is the less punishing of the two. Park City's lodging, lift tickets and ski school are among the most expensive in North American skiing, the Christmas weeks cost even more, and many budget travellers stay in Salt Lake City or the Heber Valley and drive up.

In Whitefish, rooms are scarce and expensive in summer and the ski season, and you will probably need a hire car on top. Staying in Kalispell or Columbia Falls brings the cost down, and once you are inside Glacier the days cost little. Both towns are noticeably cheaper outside their peak seasons.

Neither town is somewhere to plan a trip around shows, but Park City has a little more, and more of it comes from outside. The Egyptian Theatre, a 1920s playhouse on Main Street, keeps comedy, plays and small concerts going through the ski season. The Eccles Center brings in touring productions, and in summer the Utah Symphony plays on the lawns at Deer Valley.

Whitefish's stage is more homegrown. Its arts centre relies mostly on local theatre, with the odd visiting show. The professional company performs only in summer, and the orchestra is the valley's own, giving its concerts in Kalispell rather than in town. Outside the summer festival weeks, a night out in Whitefish is more likely to mean a band in a saloon than a seat in a theatre.

Park City is better set up for pampering. The big ski lodges at Deer Valley and the Canyons base have large spas, there is an outdoor hot tub at nearly every stay, and Homestead Crater in Midway lets you swim in spring water at about 35°C inside a limestone dome.

Whitefish has a few lodge spas and yoga studios, and its quiet lakeside mornings make it restful. Its nearest hot springs, though, are a couple of hours' drive away.