Cathey Peak stands in the Sacramento Mountains of south-central New Mexico, about 10 miles southeast of Alamogordo, on the high western crest of the range. There the land drops steeply toward the Tularosa Basin, while the eastern side slopes down more gradually through forest. Nearby Sacramento Peak, slightly lower and southwest of Cathey Peak, is more widely known because observatories including the Sunspot Solar Observatory and Apache Point Observatory occupy or border its summit area near the community of Sunspot. Together the two peaks show the region’s distinctive form: a wooded upland crest with a pronounced western escarpment, combining notable mountain scenery with scientific importance.