About the Doon

The Doon has its headwaters in the many burns draining the Merrick hills and feeding into Loch Doon. The River Doon itself begins at Loch Doon from where it flows 24 miles to join the Firth of Clyde at Alloway.

The outlet of Loch Doon has been controlled for over 200 years, first with sluices to regulate the water for the many mills that utilised the power from the fast flowing Doon, then in the 1930s a dam was built which increased the level of the loch by 27ft as part of the Galloway Hydros Scheme.

 

The river is famous for its salmon fishing, freshwater pearl mussels, canoeing and beauty with its course is generally north-westerly, passing near to the town of Dalmellington, and through the villages of Patna, Dalrymple, and Alloway, birthplace of Robert Burns.

The iconic River was immortalised by Robert Burns in his poem "The Banks O' Doon" and is also mentioned in Burns' classic narrative poem Tam o' Shanter, along with the Brig o' Doon, which crosses the river just outside of Alloway.

 

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