The City of West Wendover lies on the western boundary of Ancient Lake Bonneville. The area is comprised of alluvial fans formed by erosion of the surrounding hills and mountains located west and north of the City. The general drainage is from the northwest (elevation of 4,940 feet) to the southeast (elevation 4,320 feet). West Wendover lies amidst a series of north south oriented mountain ranges. These mountains are generally 8,000 to 9,000 feet above sea level with some peaks extending to 12,000 feet. Other landforms in the surrounding area include the wave cut terraces, spits and off shore barrier bars formed as part of Ancient Lake Bonneville. Present day landforms include deposits of windblown sand and silt, sand dunes and deposits left from normal weathering and runoff. The basins consist of primarily salt flats and playa deposits. West Wendover is a geographic region enclosed by highlands and having no surface drainage to the ocean.

The soil types are characterized as basin fill deposits consisting mainly of alluvial and lacustrine sediments deposited in the remnant of Ancient Lake Bonneville. In the lower regions of the West Wendover area the predominant soil series in the region is the Playas-Saltair complex. This soil unit is intricately intermingled with 60 percent Playas in the depressions and 30 percent Saltair silt loam on the slopes. The remaining soil types found covering the slopes and upland areas are soils which consist of silty loam, sand, gravelly-sandy loam, thin cobbly loams and rock outcrops. The next most common soils in the areas are Amtoft Dry-Rock Outcrop complex and the Izamatch-Cliffdown complex.

The West Wendover area lies in the portion of the Artemiseion province, which covers southeastern Oregon, southern Idaho, northeastern California, western Utah and most of Nevada. Vast sagebrush –covered plains and isolated, partly forested mountains dominate this province. The province occupies the physiographic section known as the Great Basin. The general area surrounding West Wendover is comprised of a slat-desert scrub, iodine bush, black greasewood, shadscale and inland saltgrass. There are no listed threatened or endangered plant species known to exist in the area.

No perennial springs exist in the area. Most precipitation (4.5 to 5 inches per year) quickly evaporates. However, puddles and ponding may occur on the alkali mud flats during periods of high precipitation. Groundwater occurs in both the unconsolidated and consolidated rocks beneath the area. The major groundwater reservoir ranges from 1,000 up to 2,000 feet thick in the unconsolidated to partially consolidated basin fill beneath some areas. Shallow groundwater flow occurs in an approximate eastern direction and is characterized by a poor natural quality, due to the salinity and high total dissolved solids. The major constituents in the groundwater are calcium, potassium, magnesium and sodium bicarbonate. The principal source of recharge to the groundwater is from precipitation on the adjoining mountains. Recharge occurs primarily above an elevation of 4,600 feet mean sea level (MSL), because most of the area below 4,600 feet MSL is underlain by fine-grained lakebed deposits of low permeability and of sufficient thickness to prevent much recharge to the older valley fill. Some underflow from adjoining valley fill and Paleozoic bedrock may also provide recharge.