Beattock Summit is located approximately 10 miles (16 km) to the north of the village in the neighbouring administrative area of South Lanarkshire.

At 1,033 ft (315 m) it is the highest point on both the M74, and on the West Coast Main Line within Scotland.

Beattock is in the parliamentary constituency of Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale, David Mundell is the current Conservative Party member of parliament.

Ecclefechan is part of the South Scotland region in the Scottish Parliament, being in the constituency of Dumfriesshire.

Before Brexit, for the European Parliament its residents voted to elect MEP's for the Scotland constituency.