Trail up to the Observatory

Dalmellington (Scots: Dawmellinton, Scottish Gaelic: Dail M'Fhaolain) is a market town and civil parish in Ayrshire, Scotland. In 2001 the village had a population of 1407. The town owes its origins to the fault line separating the Southern Uplands of Scotland from the Central Lowlands. Dalmellington sits at the issue of a river from the uplands into Dalmellington Moss plain.

Bellsbank is a village half a mile away from the market town of Dalmellington in East Ayrshire, Scotland. It is the 2nd highest place in East Ayrshire; only Muirkirk is higher than this. Bellsbank is now classed as a separate town from Dalmellington.Bellsbank was originally established to provide housing for the population of Benquhat (one of several "ghost" villages in the Doon Valley that have been demolished).

Doon Academy is a secondary school in Dalmellington that caters to the local surrounding areas Dalmellington, Patna, Rankinston and Bellsbank. The current head teacher is Kenneth Reilly who took over from John Mackenzie in 2014.