Sun Valley or Telluride?

Neither town is a place to swim, but Sun Valley offers a little more. Redfish Lake under the Sawtooths has a real sandy shore and enjoys the drier, warmer summer, and there are reservoirs and river eddies on the Big Wood closer to town. Telluride's only bathing spot is a small swimming area at the Ridgway reservoir, so summer water time there usually means rafting, paddling or fishing on the San Miguel.

These two are about even, two small resort towns that eat better than their size suggests and share the same mountain menu of trout, lamb and elk. In Sun Valley everything happens in Ketchum, from après-ski grills and pizza to a few ambitious kitchens. Summer adds a farmers' market and patio dining, but spring and autumn bring shorter hours.

Telluride's choice is split between Colorado Avenue and Mountain Village. Taquerias and bakeries cover the cheaper end, and there is plenty of Colorado craft beer and deeper wine lists. On festival weekends, though, you will struggle to get a table.

Telluride has more to look at, because the town is the sight. Its clapboard houses and false-fronted mining-boom streets survive as a National Historic Landmark district, and mill ruins cling to the canyon walls above. The museum in the old miners' hospital covers the mines and the labour wars.

Sun Valley's story is narrower: Union Pacific's 1936 resort with the first chairlifts, the film-star photographs in the Lodge corridors, and Hemingway's grave in the Ketchum cemetery. You can see either in an afternoon.

Neither has clubs, but Telluride's evenings carry on a little longer. The historic saloons on Colorado Avenue, with their wooden bars and Victorian back rooms, can stay busy until late in peak ski weeks and on festival weekends. In Ketchum, après-ski means a handful of saloons, wine bars and hotel lounges and a couple of loud western bars. Outside the ski season and midsummer, most nights there end soon after dinner.

Both are outstanding mountain bases, and the difference is in how the land is laid out. In Telluride the scenery starts at the end of the main street. Bridal Veil Falls, Bear Creek and the high basins are walkable from town, and you can also try the via ferrata on the canyon wall or take a four-wheel-drive route over Imogene and Ophir passes.

Sun Valley is more spread out but just as rich. Bald Mountain's long, steep fall-line skiing rises straight from Ketchum, and the valley has dense mountain-bike singletrack and fly fishing at Silver Creek. The Sawtooths and Salmon River rafting are an hour north. Its lower altitude is also easier on the body.

From Sun Valley there is not much choice. You can visit Hailey's small historic main street a few kilometres down the valley, the log-cabin outpost of Stanley beyond the Sawtooths, or Shoshone Falls on the Snake River about two hours south. Boise is too far for a day, so most outings head into the mountains instead.

Telluride has more places worth the drive. Ranching Ridgway and Ouray, a Victorian mining town squeezed into its canyon, are both close. The high road over Red Mountain Pass leads to Silverton, the old mining town where the narrow-gauge railway from Durango ends. Mesa Verde's cliff dwellings make a long but possible outing. You need a car from either town, and Telluride's mountain passes can close in winter.

Both suit active families and neither has zoos, aquariums or rainy-day attractions. Sun Valley gives beginners a separate gentle hill away from the main mountain, and summer brings an outdoor ice rink and horse rides, though midwinter cold is tough on toddlers. In Telluride the free gondola is a treat for children and the beginner slopes sit around the village. The higher altitude, however, can bring headaches and poor sleep for young children in the first days.

Telluride is easier on foot. You can cross the historic grid in a quarter of an hour, and the free gondola runs straight up to Mountain Village and the ski area, so many visitors never use a car.

Sun Valley works well within the resort, with free buses linking Ketchum, the village and the lift bases and a bike path along the valley. Its trailheads and hot springs, though, are spread along long roads. In both places the trouble is getting there: Telluride's small airport is prone to bad weather, and Sun Valley's larger airports are a long drive away.

Shopping is much the same in both: a few expensive blocks of galleries, boutiques and outdoor gear. Ketchum stands out for fine and western art galleries with evening gallery walks, fly-fishing shops and cashmere aimed at second-home owners. Colorado Avenue in Telluride has western jewellery and a couple of good bookshops, and Mountain Village adds resort boutiques.

Both towns are priced for wealthy second-home owners, so neither makes a cheap trip. Sun Valley is a shade less punishing, because you can stay down the valley, come in the quiet spring or autumn months and use the free buses. In Telluride, the Christmas weeks and festival weekends push rooms higher still. Staying in Ridgway saves money, but it means a daily mountain drive.

Both towns come alive for music in summer, but in different styles. Sun Valley is classical: a full orchestra plays free in the open pavilion by the lodge while people picnic on the lawn, and skaters perform on the outdoor rink in the evenings.

Telluride is about festivals, led by the Bluegrass Festival in Town Park, with jazz, blues, chamber music and the film festival over Labor Day. The Sheridan Opera House also keeps some concerts and theatre going through the rest of the year, which Sun Valley lacks.

Sun Valley is a little easier to unwind in. Its outdoor heated pools steam under falling snow, and the rough creekside soaks of the Warm Springs valley are just west of Ketchum.

Telluride has full spas in the Mountain Village hotels, but its hot springs are an hour's drive away in Ouray and near Ridgway. Its higher altitude also leaves some visitors sleeping badly at first.