It's more of a route than a location, but if you're in the Moab area, I'd certainly travel from Island in the Sky (Canyonlands) down the Shafer trail and Potash Road back to Moab, with a side trip of several miles out along the White Rim Trail at least as far as Musselman Arch. It doesn't require 4WD, but certainly mandates a high-clearance vehicle. You can rent Jeeps in Moab if the vehicle you arrive in is not suitable. One word of advice about the trip: It's really easy to get lulled into driving through the fantastic scenery (better by far than the Grand Canyon in my book), when in fact each stop you make is going to provide breathtaking, non-iconic views. Short walks to unremarked canyon overlooks and up side canyons will be very hard on your CF card budget. Carry lots of water and some snacks and use them.
In fact going from west to east on that route as I've described is a better afternoon drive in terms of light, but the route is easier to find and follow from the Island in the Sky End. We usually go in the opposite direction in the morning and especially for all-day drives, simply to put the sun more or less behind us. But until you've made the trip once, it's harder to find your way traveling from east to west. Either direction, it will become a favorite location on your very first visit as it did for us, and you'll keep going back. It's so photographically rich and diverse that you'll never "see it all" in a day, much less a year. Best of all for us, the crowd usually goes elsewhere.
