We're thinking about taking a big road trip out west to see the Grand Canyon, Mesa Verde, Bryce Canyon and Zion. We've never been to these spots and I'm trying to get a sense of where to begin. We're looking at this summer, so I'm not sure if the in park lodges are an option (although the ones in Grand Canyon still had availability a few months ago). Normally we would have been more on this planning-wise, but we've been waiting to sort out this year's budget.

Someone told me that you may need reservations now for some of the parks themselves, particularly Zion. Does anyone know if that's the case?

Any tips or suggestions would be most welcome! Thank you!