Reading through this thread again and recalling the trip we made three years ago, I would second the recommendation to take UT-12 between Arches and Bryce—this was indeed a gorgeous drive. We took the whole day for it, stopping for some brief hiking along the way at both Capitol Reef and Escalante-Grand Staircase, plus a lot of photo op stops. Sadly, the Hell’s Backbone Grill was closed the day we went through (it might have more opening hours these days).

When we visited Bryce, it snowed about 4 inches on the first full day (we got there in the early evening and stayed two nights). We hiked that day but not for very long because the snow made it perilous. The snow-covered canyons/hoodoos on the second day were spectacular, but we couldn’t really do much beyond looking at them from the top of the canyon because much of the park was closed. Be aware also that the tiny town you stay in for Bryce is basically a ghost town in the winter. I believe we had a choice of two restaurants, total, neither of which were anything to write home about. Moab is also a little sleepy in December, but there were many more places there that stayed open year-round.