[2] Shelter Cove is on California's Lost Coast where the King Range meets the Pacific Ocean.

Sinkyone Wilderness State Park is about 6 miles (9.7 km) south of Shelter Cove on the coast.

Other amenities in Shelter Cove include a small aircraft airstrip, a boat launch, and recreational vehicle parking.

Some services not available in Shelter Cove are in the towns of Redway and Garberville on the U.S. 101 corridor, about 20 miles (32 km) of winding county road to the east.

Near Shelter Cove on July 21, 1907, the coastal passenger steamer Columbia collided with the steam schooner San Pedro amidst dense fog.

As a result, the small fishing village of Shelter Cove remained secluded from the rest of the state, despite being only 230 miles (370 km) north of San Francisco, and is accessible by boat, by paved mountain road, or by the small Shelter Cove Airport.

[8] Federally, Shelter Cove is in California's 2nd congressional district, represented by Democrat Jared Huffman.

[9] Shelter Cove has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csb) typical of the North Coast,[10] that is characterized by warm (but not hot), dry summers, and mild to chilly, rainy winters.

[12] For being a coastal community north of the San Francisco Bay Area, Shelter Cove has mild winter temperatures and warm summers.