Dunkeld is a small rural town of some 450 people located at the foot of the Grampians and at the southern tip of Grampians National Park.
It is 259 km west of Melbourne via the Glenelg Highway. The surrounding landscape is dominated by Mt Abrupt (827 m) and Mt Sturgeon (548 m) which were both named by Major Mitchell who was the first known European in the area. Mitchell camped for three days at the foot of Mt Sturgeon in 1836, during his Australia Felix expedition.
The first pastoralists took up properties here in the late 1830s. A small township developed which was initially known as Mt Sturgeon but, as the early settlers were predominantly Scottish, it was renamed Dunkeld after a Scottish town which was the principal locality of the Caledonian picts in Roman times.
The picturesque setting has drawn a number of artists over the years, including Louis Buvelot, Eugene von Guerard and Nicholas Chevalier who all rendered paintings of the district. The area is known principally for the production of superfine wool.
The Dunkeld Cup is held every year in November and the Dunkeld Festival in December.
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