Unless you are hiking or taking a rather serious drive, forget the Needles. First of all, it is a long way down there if coming from Moab (39 miles) and then 48 miles of nothing in off the 191 just to get to the parking area and start of a hike or serious drive.
Island In The Sky (north end) is way north of Moab but well worth the visit.
Mesa Verde. It is many miles INTO the Park to get to the visitor center where you sign up and pay for (after waiting in long lines usually) a ticket to get into all but one of the cliff dwellings. Mesa Verde is a full day in itself.
For pix of all this see
www.LaurenBarbara.com and then the Wanderings link and pick your spot.
Enjoy this wonderful part of the U S.
