Goat Rock Beach is frequented by beachcombing visitors, but usually not in high numbers, except in mid-summer; there is some wading and surfing activity, although these uses are moderated by the rip current generated by a steep gradient into the water that leads to an underwater trench parallel to the waterline.

The Russian River, with its mouth at the north end of Goat Rock Beach, is Sonoma County's largest watercourse, both in flow rate and lineal extent.

Visitors can access the base of Goat Rock via a low lying isthmus of land which has been appropriated by the State as a parking area.

The almost sheer cliffs of Goat Rock are virtually impossible to scale or to circumnavigate; in fact, signage is posted prohibiting either activity.

Among these rugged structures are natural arches formed by powerful wave action selectively eroding weaker strata of the rock formations.

The northern section is protected by the Russian River flowing into the ocean and creates an ideal location for harbor seal pupping.

When melange is eroded by wave action, the softer part of the matrix is washed away, leaving the more resistant blocks exposed in the ocean as sea stacks.

As early as 1849 archaeological discoveries were recorded in the vicinity, and to date several prehistoric kitchen middens and other types of tribal habitation finds have been made.

There are remains of numerous historic barns and other agricultural buildings on the coastal prairie several miles south of Goat Rock Beach, indicating 19th century settlement by Europeans; to the south, at Duncans Landing there are iron pins embedded in the sandstone bluffs as evidence of an active shipping industry here in the late 19th and early 20th century.

The marine environment presents gray whales, harbor seals,[8] and California sea lions, as well as a multitude of fish species and other marine organisms; in fact, several species of anadromous fish enter the Russian River estuary and migrate for tens of miles up the Laguna de Santa Rosa and other Russian River tributaries.

The upland environment on the coastal prairie offers a range of grass species and wildflowers including varieties of lupine, thistle and wild oats.

A variety of birds and mammals thrive on the coastal prairie including numerous California Mule Deer, Odocoileus hemionus californicus.

Due to the potential safety risks of strong rip currents and sneaker waves at Goat Rock Beach, swimming is strictly prohibited.