Hey everyone. My wife and I are considering moving to the Cedar City / St. George area of UT at some point in our lives so we've decided to take a vacation there next year to check things out. We'll be driving via I-84, and then taking the 15 the rest of the way down from SLC to St. G. We have 2 weeks, and like hiking, sight seeing, museums, and fun restraunts. Since we'd like to live down south, we'll be focusing the vast majority of our time down there, but I would like to see a couple sites in SLC etc. on my way though.

1. What are the must-see sites? Zion and Bryce Canyon look awesome, but what else?
2. What time of year is optimal? I know it gets blazing hot in some places in UT and we're pretty used to mild weather out here in WA. If we're going to be hiking and sight seeing, it'd be nice if we didn't get cooked to the point of misery. At what point of the spring does it become miserably hot? If we go after summer...when would be a good time? Late sep or oct maybe?
3. We're a ways out, but I know some of the popular places there get a TON of visitors...are there any places that are notorious for requiring reservations super early? We're not going to Moab for EJS or anything, but we'd like to avoid no-vacancy issues if possible...

April and May are usually good times to see southern Utah.  Right now it's hot everywhere.  Near 100 in the northern part of the state and over it in the southern part.

The Uintah mountains in the northern part are nice.

Park City.

The Temple in SLC.

You didn't mention Moab.

Moab is cool, but I'm not going wheeling and it seems like there's no direct routes between the SW part of the state and there. Is it worth the trip? I honestly don't know...never been there and all I know about it is that it's a wheelers haven. I used to be in that scene but I retired and became a gun nut instead.

Since you'll be on the west side of the state, I'd suggest  Bryce Canyon.  It's up higher in elevation so it's cooler. It's also imho one of the prettier parks to see in Utah.  The hikes are breath taking, both for the beauty and maybe because I'm not in great shape, lol. In any event, welcome!

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One unique thing I've been doing with travel is to get on Instagram and do searches of locations and/or hashtags of the place I'm going.

It's a great way to have a natural view of what people think is interesting about the area. You can use that info as a guide when you get to where you are going.

With that being said, the size and experience of Utah is vast. I have been in the Wasatch range (Norther Utah) for about 20 years and do something in the mountains 4-6 times a month. Hiking, biking, snowboarding, snowshoeing, scout trips, etc. I still have a lot that I haven;t done.

Here's a few ideas for the Northern:

Hike Grandeur Peak, Cecret Lake, or Bell Canyon.
Take the Snowbird tram to the top and enjoy the view.
Tour Temple Square
Go for a walk and a nice dinner on Main St. in Park City
Check out the bison, pronhorn, and HUGE deer on Antelope Island. (Much more enjoyable if you have some good optics along)
Get brunch at Ruth's Diner
Hire a guide and fish the Provo River
Drive Guardsman's Pass between Big Cottonwood Canyon and Midway/Park City.
Hike to the hot springs in Diamond Fork Canyon.
Watch a car go over 400 mph or watch the rocket clubs at the Salt Flats.

Capitol Reef is another National Park that is not as popular but reasonably close to Bryce. It's a sleeper in my opinion. A few cool hikes such as the Butch Cassidy Arch.

R&R BBQ in SLC


Sand Hollow Reservoir in Southern Utah, even though you won't have a boat, you can still park and jump off the rocks/cliffs into the lake. They're very accessible. Assuming it still has water though, I haven't been there in a while.

The above were bolded for emphasis.

Also Would say grab a burger at lucky 13 or cottonbottom inn
hike donut falls. It short, easy, payoff is a decent view and a waterfall.
See the John M Browning museum if you go up to Ogden. Its amazing
The Museum of natural history at the UofU is good
The Leonardo always has good collections http://www.theleonardo.org/flight-exhibit-leonardo/
Bohemian Brewery has great german food.
Epic Brewery is a good visit for 10 minutes (dont plan on eating there)
Red Rock is always great for food and brew.
If you want a nice evening there are some really nice restaurants at the top of the Joseph Smith building.

holy crap, there's a JMB museum?! That's a must-see for me. I looove me some JMB!!!!!! It's on the way too. Couldn't be much more perfect of a suggestion. Thanks!

JMB was a toking mormon.
They have all the inventor originals for everything he did as well as First off the line.

ETA
link to the museum

Also they have a bunch of .22 (I think) miniatures

If you are from Washington State I would recommend that you plan on two visits.  One in August when it's 110 degrees and 2 percent humidity and another in the middle of winter.  Don't come and hang out during the best times of year....come during the worst and see if you can hack that.  

My wife couldn't handle the dry climate....it did horrible things to her skin.  

Utah will give you a freedom boner compared to the PNW.  Enjoy.

I'd like to avoid dying of heat stroke while on vacation.  Any weather can be acclimated too eventually. I did a year in the humidity hell of GTMO once, and some fun dry heat in cali as well. It'll take time, but I'll get used to it. I'm hoping I can live somewhere with a little elevation so it's not death valley style heat all the time...

If I were you, I would try to do the vacation in late September or early October.  Things cool down in southern Utah and allow for a more pleasurable experience.
There are so many cool things to do and see that you will need to pick and choose what is right for you. With that being said here are some of my recommendations if you were to start in St. George and then work northeast.
My favorite place to hike in St. George is at Snow Canyon State Park.  Also the Anasazi Ridge petroglyphs are kind of cool.  They are north west of town.
Moving north from St. George would take you through Zion National Park.  There are many great trails in the park from little trails to a whole Zion Traverse.  Zion is cool, but not my favorite.
If you go through Zion you can then continue up toward Bryce Canyon (easily my favorite).  There are many great hikes in Bryce.  All of them essentially start on top and drop in.  Fairyland Loop is a great trail and a little less crowded.  Queens Garden and Navajo are pretty popular, but for good reason.  Star gazing is also a specialty of the park as well due to its remote location and no light pollution.  This park is at elevation and therefore can get chilly.  
From Bryce you can head over toward Escalante and Grand Staircase National Monument.  A popular hike here is Calf Creek Falls.  It is well worth the hike.  The waterfall is pretty spectacular, and if it is hot you can swim at the base of the falls.  We have done it early in the morning and had the place all to ourselves, and then passed all the hikers on our way out.
Continuing north from here you can head up to Torrey and Capitol Reef.  Again there are plenty of places to hike.
Heading west from here will take you over to Hanksville and then going north Goblin Valley State Park is worthwhile.  Right by Goblin Valley is Little Wild Horse & Bell Canyon is a great slot canyon hike to do as well.
From here you can head over to Moab area and hit Arches National Park as well as Canyonlands.  The most popular hike at Arches is probably Delicate Arch, but there are many more hikes to do here.  As far as Canyonlands, you could spend days here.  It is a very large park with 3 different entrances to the park area.  While you are in the area, Dead Horse Point state park is unique and has a very famous photography point high above the Colorado River.
If you do that, then congrats you have visited the Mighty 5.

Leaving for Colorado, Utah, and Arizona soon, we planned our route a year ago and have reservations in National Parks, state parks on our route as well as nights planned on BLM land. Taking our travel trailer so it should be great fun!