Sedona or Steamboat Springs?

Neither town is a beach destination, but Sedona at least offers a real swim on a hot day. Slide Rock has a sandstone chute you can ride down, and Grasshopper Point and Red Rock Crossing have deeper pools under red cliffs. The summer heat makes them very welcome.

In Steamboat the water is colder and the season shorter. A few hardy swimmers use the reservoirs at Steamboat Lake and Stagecoach in July and August. Most people get into the water by tubing the Yampa, which is more a float than a swim.

Both towns eat like resorts, with a narrow choice and no street food, so the difference is in the flavour. Sedona leans Southwestern, with chilli, corn, plenty for vegetarians and sunset terraces facing the rocks. The Verde Valley tasting rooms are just down the road.

Steamboat cooks heartier ranch food. Along Lincoln Avenue you will find steakhouses, Colorado lamb and beef, Mexican places and pizza, and the local drink is craft beer rather than wine.

Neither is a sightseeing town, but Sedona has a little more to fill a morning. The Chapel of the Holy Cross, built into a butte in 1956, is a genuine piece of architecture, and the galleries concentrate on Western and Native American art. The Sinagua cliff dwellings and rock art at Palatki, Honanki and V Bar V are a short drive out.

Steamboat's story is ranching and skiing. You can read it in the old storefronts on Lincoln Avenue, at the Tread of Pioneers Museum and at Howelsen Hill, the historic ski hill in town. An hour or two covers it all.

Steamboat has the livelier evenings, at least in season. Après-ski starts at the gondola base as the lifts close, then moves on to the saloons and brewpubs of Lincoln Avenue, some of which stay busy late in winter.

Sedona goes to bed early because its visitors are up for dawn hikes. A brewpub, wine bar or resort lounge in Uptown is the whole evening, and the clear, dark sky is the main show. Neither town has clubs.

Both are outdoor towns first. What differs is the landscape and the season. Sedona is red sandstone desert: you hike Cathedral Rock, Devil's Bridge and Boynton Canyon, ride the slickrock singletrack, take jeep roads into the backcountry, and climb into the pines of Oak Creek Canyon. The Grand Canyon is about two hours away.

Steamboat is alpine and built around snow. Winter means Champagne Powder and tree skiing in the aspens, with backcountry at Rabbit Ears Pass. In summer there are the Emerald Mountain trails, Fish Creek Falls, fly fishing on the Yampa, and moose and elk out towards the Mount Zirkel Wilderness.

Sedona is by far the better base for outings. Jerome's mining-town streets, the Verde Canyon Railroad, the valley tasting rooms and the ancient sites of Montezuma Castle and Tuzigoot are all within an hour. Flagstaff, Walnut Canyon and Wupatki lie a little further on.

From Steamboat, the nearby towns are small ranching places worth only a coffee stop. Reaching Vail, Grand Lake or Denver means two or three hours of mountain driving, so excursions here head into the hills rather than to other towns.

Steamboat is set up for children in a way Sedona is not. In winter there is a strong ski school with beginner slopes, plus quieter first turns at Howelsen Hill. The Old Town Hot Springs pools, with slides and a climbing wall, work in any season, and summer adds tubing, the gondola and the rodeo.

Sedona has Slide Rock, the short trails around Bell Rock and the jeep tours, but its hotels lean towards couples and spa guests, and the summer heat on exposed trails needs care. In Steamboat, plan for the altitude, which can tire small children for the first day or two.

Steamboat is easier without a car, though only up to a point. A town bus links the flat downtown with the ski base, and slopeside lodgings put the gondola within walking distance. The hot springs, the falls and the passes still need a car, with proper winter tyres.

In Sedona you will drive almost everywhere. Only Uptown is walkable, a shuttle serves just a few busy trailheads, and weekend traffic backs up around the Y. Most visitors arrive by a two-hour drive from Phoenix.

Sedona gives shoppers more to browse. Tlaquepaque's courtyards hold galleries and craft studios, the main road is lined with Native American jewellery, pottery and rugs, and the crystal and metaphysical shops are a speciality of their own.

In Steamboat, shopping is a walk down Lincoln Avenue for western boots and hats, with F.M. Light & Sons as the landmark, plus ski and outdoor-gear shops. Neither town has fashion shopping.

Sedona charges its highest rates in spring and autumn, which are also its best seasons, and jeep tours, balloon flights and spa treatments add up quickly. Staying in Cottonwood or Flagstaff and driving in keeps the bill down.

Steamboat is just as dear, but its peak is the ski season, above all around Christmas and the spring school breaks, when lift access and equipment hire come on top of lodging. Summer is gentler, and self-catering condos and the free town buses help.

Steamboat has a real summer season. The Strings Music Festival brings chamber music, jazz and bluegrass to its pavilion, there are free concerts downtown and at the mountain base, and Perry-Mansfield stages student theatre and dance. The rest of the year is much thinner.

Sedona has only a few occasions through the year. The main one is the film festival in late winter, along with chamber concerts and acoustic sets or Native American flute players at the resorts.

Sedona is the retreat town, with destination spas set against the canyons, yoga, meditation and breathwork, and sunrise walks to the vortexes. What it lacks is natural hot water, and its treatments come at resort prices.

Hot water is exactly what Steamboat does well. Locals use the Old Town Hot Springs all year, and Strawberry Park's rock-lined pools sit in a wooded creek valley about 11km up the mountain, a memorable soak on a snowy evening. For spa programmes and retreats, though, Sedona offers far more.