Getting to the Needles section of the park was time consuming. It was an hour south from Moab and then almost another hour west. Once we got to the Needles park we headed along a gravel road to the area circled in green. I've highlighted the actual route we took, 3-4 miles in green as well. For a short walk it wasn't quick because the terrain was very uneven.
There doesn't seem to be a lot of wildlife in the area. Aside from some crows this little lizard guy was typical of what we saw. 
The walk started off, as many do, with a steep climb. This part was pretty well defined by the rocks.
Once we got up on the rocks they looked a lot like this. The rock eroded unevenly causing the needle-like formations.
To me they looked more like mushrooms, but I guess early cowboys weren't that familiar with mushrooms so they called them needles.
It was cloudy and wet during a lot of our walk. We heard some thunder and tried counting the seconds in between seeing lightening and hearing the thunder. We THOUGHT we were about 15 miles away from the storm. Later we read in the park newsletter that our factor had been off and we were more like 3 miles away from the storm. A little close for comfort up there with no cover.
This is Dan and I inbetween some needles. Aren't we cute?
These are more needles looking at them from higher up. They're swirly.The rock is thin and crumbly.
The sky was dramatic against the rock.
Now it's sunny.
The sky provided all kinds of drama for us while raising the possibility of what we'd do if it really started to storm. A cloudy sky brings out the colors nicely. Sometimes when it's so sunny the color of the rock washes out.
