Yosemite or Zion?

Neither has a coast, and swimming is a side activity in both. Yosemite's water is cold mountain water. You can float in the Merced's pools in late summer or swim off Tenaya Lake's sandy shore in the high country, and Bass Lake, just south of the park, is warmer.

Zion's swimming is outside the park, at the reservoirs around Hurricane, where Sand Hollow has red sand and warm water from June to September. In the canyon itself the Virgin River is for wading only.

Food is basic in both places, but Zion makes eating out easier. Springdale's main road sits right at the park gate, with early cafés for hikers and one or two dining rooms with canyon views. Utah's liquor rules keep drinking low-key.

In Yosemite you mostly eat at lodge cafeterias, pizza counters and general stores. The grand historic dining room in the Valley is the one memorable meal, and the gateway towns with their diners and foothill wine are a long drive away. Many people end up cooking at their campsite.

Neither park has much to see beyond the landscape, but Zion has a little more history around it. There is the Human History Museum, rock-art panels in the canyon, the 1930 tunnel with galleries cut into the cliff and the ghost town of Grafton. St. George adds its pioneer temple and dinosaur tracks.

Yosemite's history is concentrated in the Valley: the timber and stone grand hotel, the museum's Miwok basketry and Ansel Adams's photographs. The Pioneer History Center at Wawona adds the stagecoach era. Each takes an hour or two.

Both go quiet after dark. In Yosemite an evening means a lodge lounge, a ranger talk or a campfire. In Springdale it means a brewpub patio, where Utah's liquor rules keep drinking modest. In both places the real evening show is the clear, starry sky.

Both parks have world-class scenery, but the rock is different. Yosemite is granite. Walls rise about 1,000m from a flat meadow, with waterfalls pouring off them in spring, El Capitan for climbers and the cable route up Half Dome. Mariposa Grove's sequoias and the alpine country of Tuolumne add variety, and in winter there is gentle skiing at Badger Pass.

Zion is red and cream sandstone in a narrower canyon. You wade up the Narrows, climb the chained ridge of Angels Landing and go canyoneering through slot canyons. The emptier Kolob Canyons and Bryce's hoodoos, about two hours away, extend the trip.

Yosemite has the better outings that aren't just more scenery. To the west, the Gold Country has Columbia's preserved gold-rush street, Jamestown's steam railway yard and the wineries around Murphys. In summer you can cross Tioga Pass to the ghost town of Bodie and to Mammoth Lakes.

From Zion, most spare days go to other canyons. The towns are a shorter list: Kanab's Western film heritage, the ranch fort at Pipe Spring and the frontier museum in Cedar City.

Zion is the easier park with children. The shuttle removes the parking problem, the Pa'rus Trail is flat enough to cycle and the Riverside Walk ends at a paddling spot. Avoid midsummer, when the heat is hard on small children.

Yosemite's Valley floor also works, with cycle paths, the short walk to Lower Yosemite Fall and the Junior Ranger programme. But the drives in are long and winding, the sights are far apart, and the cliff edges, spring rivers and bears call for closer supervision.

Zion is much simpler to get around. In the busy months a free shuttle runs the length of the main canyon, a second shuttle links Springdale's hotels to the entrance, and the other areas are a short drive on good roads.

Yosemite Valley can be done without a car, using the regional bus from Merced and the Valley shuttles. Glacier Point, Mariposa Grove and Tuolumne Meadows are each an hour or more of mountain road away, though, and Tioga Road stays closed by snow for much of the year.

Neither is a place to shop, but Zion has a little more. Springdale's outfitters rent dry suits for the Narrows, and its galleries sell Native American jewellery and pottery. St. George has outlet stores. Yosemite has park stores and a gallery of fine-art landscape prints in the Valley.

Both are expensive at the gate in season, but Zion is easier to do cheaply. Hurricane and St. George, half an hour to an hour away, have plenty of chain motels and supermarkets, and once you are there the shuttles and trails cost nothing.

Yosemite has only a few rooms inside the park, they sell out early, and the gateway motels charge peak rates all summer. The cheap option is a campsite, which is hard to get, or a stay further down in the foothills.

Here Zion is well ahead. In summer the Tuacahn amphitheatre near St. George stages Broadway musicals against red cliffs, and the respected Utah Shakespeare Festival plays in Cedar City, about an hour north. Springdale has its own small amphitheatre for concerts.

In Yosemite the evening programme is ranger campfire talks and the odd historical performance in the Valley. The nearest real stage is a small repertory theatre in Sonora.

Zion is the better choice for a restful stay with treatments. Destination spa resorts around Ivins combine yoga, guided hikes and treatments in red-rock settings, and several Springdale lodges have pools and spas with canyon views.

In Yosemite, rest mostly means wilderness. There are a couple of resort spas near the southern entrance and open-air hot springs beyond Tioga Pass in summer, and the high country or a winter visit gives real quiet.