As well as a handful of tourist amenities the township is largely made up of crofts and other small dwellings, however most now form second homes with Rackwick having very few full time residents.

[3] The Orcadian poet George Mackay Brown's poem Rackwick describes the township as "the hidden valley of light" and "Orkney's last enchantment".

The township is the main starting point for people walking to the Old Man of Hoy, a notable sea stack 1.5 miles (2.4 km) away.

[5] Rackwick has a series of small unstaffed community-run museum buildings and an archive centre, including an old schoolhouse and the restored 18th century Cra'as Nest croft and farmstead.

[6] The township also contains a bothy, Burnmouth, run by the Hoy Trust, and the Rackwick Outdoor Centre – a hostel by the Orkney Islands Council in a former school building.