The Dixie Valley is an endorheic basin which had plentiful ground water (free-flowing artesian wells) around which ranches were built. Prior to the US Navy TOPGUN school moving from California to Nevada, the valley was purchased in 1995 for $100 million and is used as an electronic warfare range for nearby Fallon Naval Air Station.

The watershed has a floor of greater than 3000 ft (914.4 m) elevation which has both the Lahontan Salt Shrub Basin and Lahontan Playa ecoregions of the Central Basin and Range

Central Basin and Range ecoregion

The Central Basin and Range ecoregion is a Level III ecoregion designated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency with 26 different Level IV ecoregions...

. At higher elevations the area has Lahontan Sagebrush Slope (west) and Central Nevada High Valley (east) ecoregions that respectively transition to the mountainous Lahontan Upland and Central Nevada Mid-Slope Woodland & Brushland ecoregions (the latter's summits are Central Nevada Bald Mountain ecoregions).

Dixie Valley military range

The military range in Dixie Valley is part of the Fallon Range Training Complex (FRTC) and contains a simulated air defense network, including approximately 20 operational radar

Radar

Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...

 installations and many demilitarized armored vehicles have been scattered throughout the area. Most of this area is publicly accessible, with the exception of areas immediately surrounding the radar installations.