The mountain dulcimer is a excellent fun instrument and fairly easy to play and experiment with. I never had any lessons and have worked out a playing system I like by trial and error. My own dulcimer is a Breton hand-made six string and I use a variation on the usual 2:2:2 tuning with three strings each in two courses for a very full sound. I don't bother with the additional frets, e.g. 6.5, as it's not my principal instrument and I'm happy with the basic scale and lack of a middle course for the stuff I do on it. If you can't find a club I would suggest just experiment and you'll quickly find to make progress.

moo