If Anasazi/Ancestral Puebloan ruins are your thing, then the Coomb Ridge and Cedar Mesa area is spectacular. Tassoni's A Hiking Guide to Cedar Mesa is well worth the investment, and many sites can be accessed with short hikes. It would be best to camp out of your 4x4 to explore this area, or stay at Natural Bridges NM, which is also spectacular. I think the east side of Cedar Mesa, up Snowflat Road, is worth the very rough drive. Accessing the area from Blanding is also possible.

If you are hoteling, then Moab is a perfect staging ground. I love Capitol Reef and am anxious to return to Cathedral Valley, but you might want to drop it in favor of a Moab-based trip. Or a Moab-Blanding based trip.

If you are shooting color, the light in all of these areas gets very harsh very fast, unless you are lucky enough to have rain or snow, or even clouds. I always tell friends that I have a love/hate relationship with SE Utah. Its beautiful until 1 hour after sunrise, and 1 hour before sunset, and dry, dusty, windy and rugged in between. I always miss the switchbacks of a Rockies hike when I'm trudging into a canyon or along the sandy floor.