Rapid City or Salt Lake City?

Neither city is a swimming destination, and the water is different in each. Around Rapid City you swim in clear, cool mountain lakes such as Sylvan Lake, Sheridan Lake and Pactola Reservoir, which are good for a quick dip on a summer driving day.

Salt Lake City has an odd attraction instead: floating without effort in the Great Salt Lake, a muddy, fly-ridden experience most people try once. For proper swimming, locals drive up to Jordanelle, Deer Creek or Pineview, where the boating and paddleboarding are livelier than anything in the Black Hills.

Rapid City feeds you heartily and simply: bison burgers, chislic skewers and Indian tacos on Lakota fry bread, with a cluster of brewpubs and a few more ambitious kitchens around Main Street. On the highway strips and in the hill towns, chains, fudge and pie take over, though the wineries and craft distillers in the hills make a pleasant stop on a driving day.

Salt Lake City has the wider range, mostly thanks to the Mexican, Pacific Islander, Peruvian and Vietnamese kitchens along State Street and in the west of the valley. Its home-grown quirks, such as fry sauce, pastrami burgers, scones with honey butter and dirty sodas, are fun to try once. Utah's liquor rules leave wine and cocktails thinner than you would expect in a city of its size.

Rapid City's own sights take an afternoon: the presidents' statues on the street corners, the Journey Museum's account of the Lakota and the gold rush, and the fossils at the School of Mines. Its famous monuments are all out in the hills.

Salt Lake City has a real historic centre in Temple Square, laid out in 1847, with the granite temple, the domed Tabernacle and Brigham Young's Beehive House. Add the Capitol, the painted Cathedral of the Madeleine and the dinosaur halls of the Natural History Museum and you have two full days, not one.

Both cities go to bed early, but Salt Lake City has a little more going on. Downtown and the Granary District have a few dance clubs, there is a long-standing gay bar scene, and Sugar House has neighbourhood pubs, although Utah's liquor laws keep drinks and closing times restrained.

Rapid City's evenings are a few blocks of brewpubs and country bars around Main Street Square. The exception is the Sturgis rally week in early August, when the whole region gets loud.

Both are superb outdoor bases, but Salt Lake City has the bigger mountains. The Wasatch rises above 3,000m straight from the city, with Alta, Snowbird and Park City's deep powder in winter, and alpine lakes and serious peak hikes in summer. The salt flats and Antelope Island's bison to the west add a different landscape altogether.

The Black Hills are gentler and more varied in what you can see: the granite Needles, bison and pronghorn in Custer State Park, the guided tours of Wind Cave and Jewel Cave, the Badlands, and the 175km Mickelson Trail. Skiing is the one area where Rapid City has little to offer.

Day trips are where Rapid City clearly wins. Mount Rushmore is half an hour away, and Crazy Horse, gold-rush Deadwood, Spearfish Canyon, the Mammoth Site and the Minuteman Missile silo are all comfortable return drives. You could fill a week without repeating yourself.

From Salt Lake City, Park City's Victorian Main Street, Midway and Ogden's 25th Street make good outings, with the Golden Spike site further north. Utah's famous red-rock parks, though, are too far to do in a day and need an overnight stay.

Both cities are easy with children, in different ways. Around Rapid City the fun is roadside and outdoors: the reptile park, the drive-through bear park, Storybook Island, bison stopping traffic and digging at the Mammoth Site, with motels that have pools.

Salt Lake City's attractions are more like a city's: the zoo, the aquarium, the children's museum, the planetarium and Lagoon's roller coasters, plus ski schools in winter. Both involve plenty of driving, but in Salt Lake City the trips are shorter.

In Rapid City a car is essential. The buses don't reach Rushmore or the parks, but the roads are quiet and the Needles Highway and Iron Mountain Road are part of the scenery.

Salt Lake City gives you more choice. TRAX light rail runs from the airport to downtown and the University, FrontRunner runs north to Ogden and south to Provo, and ski buses go up the canyons, although the wide grid and the sprawling valley still favour a car.

Rapid City's shops sell its region, while Salt Lake City's sell its mountains. In Rapid City the things worth taking home are tri-colour Black Hills gold with its grape-leaf designs, Lakota quillwork, beadwork and star quilts from the downtown galleries, and Western boots and hats. Beyond those, there is a regional mall and the souvenir shops of Keystone and Wall.

Salt Lake City has more choice, with City Creek Center's open-air mall built around a creek, Trolley Square's converted streetcar barns, and independent and vintage shops at 9th and 9th and in Sugar House. Its local outdoor shops are the best reason to browse, especially if you need ski or climbing gear.

Rapid City is a little cheaper day to day, with modest motels, plain meals and free sights in town. Prices rise in high summer and very sharply during the August rally, and car hire and park entry are unavoidable costs.

Salt Lake City is reasonable as a city, with free sights on Temple Square and cheap light rail. A ski week is a different matter, with lift tickets, equipment hire and canyon lodging, so its main draw is also where the money goes.

This is one of the biggest gaps between the two. Salt Lake City has the Tabernacle Choir, whose rehearsals and broadcasts are open to the public with the great organ, along with daily organ recitals and a full season from the Utah Symphony, Utah Opera and Ballet West.

Rapid City has a regional symphony, touring shows at the civic centre and summer plays in the Custer State Park pines. Its most memorable performances are powwows, above all the large autumn gathering.

Each city has one notable hot spring about an hour away. Rapid City's is the historic spring-fed indoor pool at Hot Springs, which has drawn bathers since the 1890s. Salt Lake City's is the stranger Homestead Crater in Midway, where you soak inside a limestone dome.

Salt Lake City has more besides, with resort spas in Park City and the canyons that are welcome after skiing. Rapid City's restful side is mostly quiet cabins and lodges in the hills.