The village of Catterfeld is located on the northern edge of the "Middle Thuringian Forest" natural area at the transition to the "Waltershausen Foothills" natural area.
The Thuringian Forest is a highly forested and heavily fragmented low mountain range up to an altitude of over 900 m above sea level. The upstream mountain and hill country is characterized by forested sandstone and shell limestone ridges and valleys used for agriculture.
The closely situated villages of Catterfeld and Altenbergen are surrounded on all sides by the "Thuringian Forest" landscape conservation area. Situated on a southern slope at an altitude of 430-480 meters above sea level, the village is embedded in a valley between the elevations of the Ziegelberg (518 m above sea level) in the north and the mountain range of the Thuringian Forest with the Rennsteig in the southwest (including Spießberg 749 m above sea level).

The neighboring village of Altenbergen nestles against Catterfeld on the opposite northern slope. The villages of Altenbergen and Catterfeld are surrounded by a continuous belt of grassland. The open valley with the villages is surrounded on all sides by extensive woodland.
The Catterfeld district covers 548 hectares. Of this, 365 hectares are used for forestry and woodland, while the proportion of agricultural land, almost exclusively used as grassland, is 120 hectares. Around 40 hectares are taken up by traffic, settlement and green areas. 13 hectares are used as garden land, the rest is divided between wasteland, water areas and other uses. The agricultural land is mainly farmed by the Thuringian "Rind" breeding cooperative based in Ernstroda.

The only watercourse in the village of Catterfeld is the "Sülzegraben". It has its source at Kirschallee and is fed by stratum water from the former mining tunnels in the village. The Sülzegraben feeds the fire extinguishing pond on the south-western edge of the village and flows from here in the valley along the B 88 in a westerly direction to Engelsbach. There it flows into the Leina. Another spring brook rises to the east of the village. The stream feeds the "Schwemme" fire-fighting pond to the south-east of the village before crossing the B 88 to Georgenthal.
The Weser/Elbe watershed runs through the village of Catterfeld. The western Sülzegraben is part of the Werra/Weser water system, while the eastern stream is part of the Elbe water system.