The terrain is steep and rugged, the highest point being the mountain, Keipen, at a height of 431 metres (1,414 ft) above sea level.

There are no longer any permanent residents on the island, and today Skorpa is best known for vacation cottages and the herd of wild goats that live there.

[2] Skorpa was an important contact point for the Shetland bus and for other allied military traffic during World War II.

On November 17, 1943, the HNoMS Hitra, a converted U.S. submarine chaser, began to cover the route, shortly joined by the MS Bergholm.

A number of the residents were notably active in the resistance, including Gerhard and Sina Skorpen, who departed to England under the cover that they had drowned.