The Glatt arises in the outlying village of Aach, at the confluence of the streams Ettenbach, Stockerbach, and Kübelbach.

It consists of the original town of Dornstetten (which included Dornstetten and the farmstead Lattenberg), the former municipality of Aach (included the village of Aach and the farmstead Benzinger Hof), and the former municipality of Hallwangen (simply the village of Hallwangen).

The area around Dornstetten also included the former settlements of Brennenweiler, Bühlerhof, and Diffenthal or Niedertall, which no longer exist.

The arms of Dornstetten consist of a black five-pointed antler (representing Württemberg) above a black thornbush (canting arms based on the town's name, as Dorn means "thorn" in German) Dornstetten enjoys a partnership with Scey-sur-Saône-et-Saint-Albin in the department of Haute Saône in France, where students from Dornstetten Gymnasium participate yearly in a student exchange program.

Himmlisch Heer is a historic copper, silver and barite mine open to the public in Hallwangen.

Dornstetten lies along the southern part of the German Half-Timbered House Road (Deutsche Fachwerkstraße), which runs from Mosbach to Haslach im Kinzigtal and includes several historic attractions.