Rapid City or Taos?

Neither town is a beach destination, but Rapid City at least gives you a summer swim. In July and August, Sheridan Lake, Pactola Reservoir and Sylvan Lake in the hills warm enough to swim, and their small shores make a good break on a driving day.

Taos has nothing comparable. The Rio Grande in its gorge is for rafting, the mountain lakes stay cold at that altitude, and a hotel pool or a hot spring is as close as you'll get.

Taos has the slight edge, because its food has a clear identity. Red and green chile on enchiladas, posole and carne adovada, horno bread from the Pueblo and blue-corn dishes give a week of meals a real sense of place.

Rapid City's cooking is heartier and plainer: bison burgers, steakhouses, chislic and Lakota fry-bread tacos, plus brewpubs along Main Street. Both run out of range quickly, so neither is worth the journey for food alone.

Here Taos is clearly ahead. Taos Pueblo, a UNESCO site still lived in by a Tiwa-speaking community, is a world-class sight. The buttressed church at Ranchos de Taos and the art-colony houses and museums give you two or three rewarding days on top of that.

Rapid City's own sights are a pleasant half day: the presidents' bronzes on downtown street corners, the Journey Museum and the fossils at the School of Mines. Its famous monuments are out in the hills, so they count as day trips here.

Both towns go to bed early, but Rapid City has a little more going on. A few downtown blocks around Main Street Square have brewpubs, sports bars and country-music bars, and the Sturgis rally makes early August loud and late across the region.

In Taos an evening usually means a margarita in an old adobe hotel bar, a brewery taproom or, in winter, après-ski up the valley, and then bed.

Both towns sit right on the edge of superb country, so the real difference is the kind of landscape. Rapid City has granite spires, ponderosa forest and wildlife: bison and pronghorn in Custer State Park, two big cave systems underground, the Badlands' eroded ridges to the east and the Mickelson Trail for cycling.

Taos is higher and wilder. You get Wheeler Peak, steep skiing at Taos Ski Valley, whitewater in the Taos Box and the sagebrush plateau split by the Rio Grande gorge. Come to Rapid City for wildlife and caves, and to Taos for alpine terrain, rafting and serious skiing.

Both have equally good day trips, and in both you'll need a car. From Rapid City the outings are Americana: Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse within an hour, gold-rush Deadwood, the Mammoth Site and a Cold War missile silo on the prairie.

From Taos the trips are about Hispanic and artistic New Mexico. The High Road runs through Truchas, Las Trampas and Chimayó to Santa Fe, and to the west lie O'Keeffe's Abiquiu and Ghost Ranch. The Rapid City trips are generally shorter drives.

Rapid City is far stronger for children. Families have come to the Black Hills on road trips for generations, so there are reptile and bear parks, Storybook Island, gold panning, cave tours and bison stopping traffic. Motels with pools and campgrounds make bases easy to find.

Taos welcomes children and suits outdoorsy families, with ski school, gentle float trips and horse riding. But it has no zoo or theme park, its museums are small art collections, and the altitude can tire young children for the first days.

Both are car towns with a small walkable core, so plan on hiring a car either way. Rapid City is a little simpler to drive, with light traffic, easy parking and seasonal tour buses to the main sights for anyone without a car.

Taos adds a long approach, since most visitors fly into Albuquerque and drive for about two and a half hours. Once you're there, the plaza, Bent Street and Kit Carson Road are pleasant on foot, but the Pueblo, the gorge and the ski valley are spread across a wide valley.

Taos is the better place to shop, as long as you're after art and craft. The galleries around the plaza and Kit Carson Road sell landscape and contemporary painting, and you'll also find turquoise and silver, micaceous pottery, Rio Grande weaving and carved santos. Buying straight from makers at the Pueblo makes it more personal.

Rapid City has its own speciality in Black Hills gold, plus Lakota quillwork and star quilts downtown. Beyond that it is malls, big-box stores and souvenir shops in Keystone and Wall.

Rapid City is somewhat easier on the budget. Its motels and casual meals are reasonable, and several sights, such as the presidents' statues and Dinosaur Park, are free. The exception is rally week in August, when rooms across the region become very expensive.

In Taos, historic inns, ski-valley lodges and the better restaurants charge resort rates in both ski season and summer. In both places a car is an unavoidable cost, and the shoulder seasons are when your money goes furthest.

Neither town has a big stage scene, and the difference lies in what you can see. Rapid City has the more conventional calendar: a symphony season, touring Broadway shows and rodeos at the civic centre, summer plays in the pines at Custer State Park and a large autumn powwow.

Taos offers rarer moments: traditional dances at the Pueblo on feast days such as San Gerónimo, watched quietly and without cameras, and a summer chamber music festival.

Taos is the clear choice for a restful stay. Ojo Caliente's outdoor pools of different mineral waters sit under the cliffs, wild hot springs lie beside the Rio Grande, and the town has yoga studios and retreat centres, all helped by the silence of the plateau.

Rapid City's main wellness draw is an hour away in Hot Springs, where a historic spring-fed indoor pool has been in use since the 1890s. Otherwise relaxing there means a quiet cabin in the hills.