A small former collier settlement in East Ayrshire, Kames lies a half-mile (0.8 km) south of Muirkirk. Surrounded by coal mines from the 18th century, a substantial pit was sunk here in 1870. The Kames Colliery was modernised and reconstructed in 1956-57, with new pithead towers, but later the same year was overwhelmed by an underground explosion which killed seventeen men. The pit finally closed in 1968.
A branch of the Glasgow and South Western Railway came here to serve the mines and the Kames Motorsport Complex now occupies the site of the line and station. Muirkirk Golf Course lies immediately to the south of the race-track.
The Kames Institute with its a substantial Gothic clock-tower is a notable landmark.
