Reddit reviews Photographing the Southwest: Volume 1--Southern Utah (2nd Ed.) (Photographing the Southwest)
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Books I’d recommend:
House of Rain by Craig Childs: Part travel journal, part science. It gives the best account of pre-historic and historic southwestern history I’ve ever read. I really recommend this to anyone who knows a little (or a lot) about the Ancestral Puebloan (formerly Anasazi) culture and wants something that puts it all together. If you only visited Mesa Verde, Hovenweep, Wupatki, Chaco, or Walnut Canyon, you might be a little confused by the different narratives. This’ll straighten you out and is just a really great read.
The Outlaw Trail by Charles Kelly: Written in the 1920’s by the first superintendent of Capitol Reef National Park. What makes this different from other books about Butch Cassidy is that Kelly interviewed former members of the Wild Bunch. Many of them were still alive, so it’s a great historical account, as well as being a great western story. If you plan to visit SE Utah at any time, read this and you’ll recognize a lot of the place names as you drive from Arches to Canyonlands and Capitol Reef.
Over the Edge: Death in the Grand Canyon by Ghiglieri & Myers: Tired of the books filled with heartwarming ranger tales about baby bears? This contains an account or listing of every person who’s ever died in the Grand Canyon. Drowning, suicide, accidents, falls, snake bites, tetnus - it’s all there. Has just as much nitty gritty info as you ever wanted, if kind of morbid, but extremely fascinating - and now part of a series.
Photographing the Southwest by Laurent Martres: Obviously a great book for photography tips, but I use it mostly as a guidebook. He has fantastic directions to all the popular spots as well as some little-known areas. What makes it even better is he’s very clear on if a normal sedan can drive there, or if you’ll need a Jeep. As a Camry owner in the land of Jeep trails, this is invaluable. His information is accurate in the National Parks and he doesn’t direct people into dangerous or illegal situations. It’s an excellent book for areas outside the parks as well. Then, when you get to your cool spot, you’ll know how to get a good photo of it.
Weather will be cool/cold. See the NP websites, like Arches, for information.
Hikes. Arches: Delicate Arch (late afternoon/sunset), Devils Garden to Double O Arch (afternoon) - 2 pics from my April hike here, really most any trail; Canyonlands: see the viewpoints in the Island in the Sky district, Mesa Arch (photography favorite at sunrise, but always worthwhile), skip the park entirely if you're short on time; Dead Horse Point SP: viewpoint (early morning); Fisher Towers: the one trail there (afternoon/sunset); Mesa Verde: Cliff Palace tour at least, see this; Monument Valley: 17-mile drive; Antelope Valley: see lower canyon (less crowded) and upper (more beautiful); Horseshoe Bend: that is a short hike near Page, AZ.
With limited time, I think you should focus more on seeing than hiking. If you want to do a 12-mile hike, for example, that would obviously consume a lot of time and maybe force you to skip a park or two.
I recommend this book.