Cactus Flat is one of the Central Nevada Desert Basins in the Cactus-Sacrobatus Watershed, for which it is an eponym

Eponym

An eponym is the name of a person or thing, whether real or fictitious, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named...

. The flat is the location of the Tonopah Test Range Airport

Tonopah Test Range Airport

Tonopah Test Range Airport , also Senior Trend project site PS-66, is located near the center of the Tonopah Test Range, southeast of Tonopah, Nevada and northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada. It is a major airfield with a runway, instrument approach facilities, and nighttime illumination...

 and Tonopah Test Range

Tonopah Test Range

Tonopah Test Range , also known as Area 52, is a restricted military installation located about southeast of Tonopah, Nevada. It is part of the northern fringe of the Nellis Range, measuring . Tonopah Test Range is located about northwest of Groom Dry Lake, home of the Area 51 facility...

, a component of the Nevada Test and Training Range

Nevada Test and Training Range

The Nevada Test and Training Range is a training facility of the United States Air Force located in the desert of southern Nevada in the United States. It is the largest of its kind in the US, and is operated by the USAF Warfare Center's 98th Range Wing...

 used for weapons testing since the 1950s. The flat is also the site of the 615 sq mi (1,592.8 km²) Nevada Wild Horse Range of the Nellis Air Force Range

Nellis Air Force Base

Nellis Air Force Base is a United States Air Force Base, located approximately northeast of Las Vegas, Nevada. It is under the jurisdiction of Air Combat Command .-Overview:...

.

Jack Rabbit Knob is 6 miles east of the playa in Cactus Flat, and the flat was the location of the Cactus Springs Mining District and has 3 cactus types (beavertail, calico, barrel).