The Goshute Valley is an endorheic

Endorheic

An endorheic basin is a closed drainage basin that retains water and allows no outflow to other bodies of water such as rivers or oceans...

 landform of the Great Basin

Great Basin

The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic watersheds in North America and is noted for its arid conditions and Basin and Range topography that varies from the North American low point at Badwater Basin to the highest point of the contiguous United States, less than away at the...

. The towns of Oasis

Oasis, Nevada

Oasis is an unincorporated community located in eastern Elko County, Nevada , at the junction of State Route 233 and Interstate 80, approximately 40 miles west of the Nevada border with the state of Utah. Built along the Central Pacific Railroad , the tracks run along the north side of town...

 and Cobre

Cobre, Nevada

Cobre is an uninhabited ghost town in Elko County, Nevada, United States. The town was located at the former interchange point between the Southern Pacific Railroad and the Nevada Northern Railway, and came into being when construction of the Nevada Northern began in 1905...

 are in the valley's north, and the central and north of the valley contains broken flatlands, with short washes draining from the surrounding mountain ranges.
Interstate 80 crosses the valley and has a junction with State Route 233

Nevada State Route 233

State Route 233 is a state highway in rural Elko County, Nevada, USA. The highway follows the routes of the First Transcontinental Railroad and California Trail from Interstate 80 to the Utah state line...

 at Oasis. The Nevada Northern Railroad traverses the valley north from Ely

Ely, Nevada

Ely is the largest city and county seat of White Pine County, Nevada, United States. Ely was founded as a stagecoach station along the Pony Express and Central Overland Route. Ely's mining boom came later than the other towns along US 50, with the discovery of copper in 1906...

 and intersects the Western Pacific Railroad

Western Pacific Railroad

The Western Pacific Railroad was a Class I railroad in the United States. It was formed in 1903 as an attempt to break the near-monopoly the Southern Pacific Railroad had on rail service into northern California...

 at Shafter and continues on north to a connection with the Southern Pacific Railroad

Southern Pacific Railroad

The Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American railroad....

 at Cobre.

The southern 25 mi (40.2 km) of the valley turns southwest and includes the northeast-flowing Nelson Creek which drains into a flatland sink

Sink (geography)

A geographic sink is a depression within an endorheic basin where water collects with no visible outlet. Instead of discharging, the collected water is lost due to evaporation and/or penetration...

. Currie

Currie, Nevada

Currie is an unincorporated community in Elko County, Nevada, United States. It is often considered a ghost town, and its population is around 20....

 is in the Steptoe Valley

Steptoe Valley

The Steptoe Valley is a long basin located in White Pine County, in northeastern Nevada in the western United States. From the historic community of Currie, the valley runs south for approximately 100 miles . To the west are the high Egan Range and the Cherry Creek Range, while to the east is the...

 to the southwest end of the Goshute Valley adjacent a drainage divide between the north flowing Nelson Creek and the south flowing drainage into the intermittant Goshute Lake near the ghost town of Goshute. The Goshute Canyon Wilderness

Goshute Canyon Wilderness

Goshute Canyon Wilderness is a wilderness area in northern White Pine County and southern Elko County, in the U.S. state of Nevada. Located in the Cherry Creek Range north of the town of Mcgill, the Wilderness was created by the "White Pine County Conservation, Recreation and Development Act of...

 lies to the southwest in White Pine County.

Salt desert

The Goshute Valley includes the largest of the Nevada salt desert

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...

ecoregions.