On Thursday, April 23, 2015 we visited McKnight Cabin and McKnight Spring. To get to the spring, turn off of NM-35 north of Mimbres and travel 17.3 miles on McKnight Road. After you ford the Mimbres River, stay left at every opportunity. The second half of the road is much rougher than the first. The route is shown above and can viewed in this video.
The location around the cabin was not burned by the Silver Fire. So the meadows, the spring, and the Aspen groves are all in good shape. Traveling up the road, you will pass through many groves of Aspen and many of the trees were girdled badly just above ground level. They are dead or dying. A number of Aspens came through the fire and are beginning to leaf out.
The spring appears to be in good shape. There is no fencing at the spring itself. I did not walk the fencing which extends from the cattle guard which you cross about a tenth of a mile from the cabin. I do not know if it extends around the cabin/spring area.
There are a number of wildflowers, including wild iris, covering the spring slope. Altogether a very pretty place at the moment. In the photo right, the spring covering is at the bottom left and the corral runs along the center of the photo, Aspen groves in the background. There is an automated weather station nearby.
