Need images please.

Could they be chiggers? These guys are REALLY tiny! Not quite as small as spider mites. Try squishing one, does it just smear red? Sorry that's gross, I know. But I get these early in the season a lot. They're always crawling all over the retaining wall so I inevitably step on them.

Jen, you are clearly describing clover mites....the red smears, climbing all over the hardscape, and observed early on in the summer season. Chiggers have a different m.o. They don't smudge with a red stain when smushed, for one thing.

Lots of these little guys look an awfully lot alike, especially through a magnifying lens.

I'm afraid we'll never be able to ID what lorri has seen without a much improved description or, as jean suggested, a picture.

My camera wouldn't be able to take a picture of it in focus, they are so small. I have done some more looking on google. The closest I can come up with is book lice. They look very similar to red book lice; however, I know that they can't be that bug.

I sprayed with neem, but later I found more, so the neem was ineffective against them. I have picked a few off and squished them. They were hard like the smallest grain of sand. Squishing killed them, but they didn't smear.

Thank you for your help!