Cactus Flat is one of the Central Nevada Desert Basins
in the
Cactus-Sacrobatus Watershed, for which it is an
eponym
An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''.
Usage of the word
The term ''epon ...
. The flat is the location of the
Tonopah Test Range Airport
Tonopah Test Range Airport , at the Tonopah Test Range (Senior Trend project site PS-66) is southeast of Tonopah, Nevada and northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada. It is a major airfield with a runway, instrument approach facilities, and nighttime i ...
and
Tonopah Test Range
The Tonopah Test Range (TTR, also designated as Area 52) is a highly classified, restricted military installation of the United States Department of Defense, and United States Department of Energy ( nuclear stockpile stewardship) located about ...
, a component of the
Nevada Test and Training Range
The Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR) is one of two military training areas at the Nellis Air Force Base Complex in Nevada and used by the United States Air Force Warfare Center at Nellis Air Force Base. The NTTR land area includes a "simu ...
used for weapons testing since the 1950s. The flat is also the site of the
Nevada Wild Horse Range of the
Nellis Air Force Range
The Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR) is one of two military training areas at the Nellis Air Force Base Complex in Nevada and used by the United States Air Force Warfare Center at Nellis Air Force Base. The NTTR land area includes a "sim ...
.
The
Kawich Range
The Kawich Range is a mountain range in Nye County in southern Nevada in the United States, just south of the Hot Creek Range. The southern part of the range lies on the Nellis Air Force Range. The mountains cover an area of about and contain Kaw ...
lies to the northeast and the
Cactus Range to the southwest. Jack Rabbit Knob is east of Antelope Lake playa in Cactus Flat.
[''Cactus Flat, Nevada'' 1:100,000 scale topographic map, 37116-EM-TM-100, USGS, 1988]
Cactus Flat has three cactus types (
Beavertail cactus
''Opuntia basilaris'', the beavertail cactus or beavertail pricklypear, is a cactus species found in the southwest United States. It occurs mostly in the Mojave, Anza-Borrego, and Colorado Deserts, as well as in the Colorado Plateau and northw ...
,
Calico cactus and
Barrel cactus
Barrel cacti are various members of the two genera ''Echinocactus'' and ''Ferocactus'', endemic to the deserts of Southwestern North America southward to north central Mexico. Some of the largest specimens are found in the Sonoran Desert in Sout ...
).
References
External links
* {{cite web , url=http://cfpub.epa.gov/surf/huc.cfm?huc_code=16060013 , title=Cactus-Sarcobatus Flats Watershed -- 16060013 , accessdate=2010-12-07
Central Basin and Range ecoregion
Basins of Nevada
Landforms of Nye County, Nevada