It covers an 1400 acre site at Eastpark Farm, to the north of the Solway Firth and to the south of Dumfries. It is a wild nature reserve with a network of screened approaches and several observation towers. There is a visitor centre and farmhouse accommodation.
Almost the entire Svalbard population of Barnacle Goose (ca. 24,000) overwinters at Caerlaverock.
In January 2002, a new education centre was officially opened by King Harald V of Norway.