Balingup, Western Australia

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}

{{Use Australian English|date=August 2012}}

{{Infobox Australian place | type = town

| name = Balingup

| state = wa

| image = Golden Valley, Balingup, January 2022 01.jpg

| caption = The state heritage listed Golden Valley Homestead in January 2022

| lga = Shire of Donnybrook-Balingup

| local_map = yes

| zoom = 10

| postcode = 6253

| est = 1898

| coordinates = {{coord|33|47|13|S|115|58|55|E|display=inline,title}}

| pushpin_label_position = right

| pop =

| area = {{cvt |input=P2046}}

| elevation= 116

| maxtemp =

| mintemp =

| rainfall =

| stategov = Warren-Blackwood

| fedgov = Forrest

| dist1 = 241

| dir1 = south

| location1= Perth

| dist2 = 24

| dir2 = north west

| location2= Bridgetown

| dist3 = 38

| dir3 = west

| location3= Boyup Brook

| near-nw = Mullalyup

| near-n = Grimwade

| near-ne = Wilga West

| near-w = Southampton

| near-e = Wilga West

| near-sw = Southampton

| near-s = Greenbushes

| near-se = North Greenbushes

}}

Balingup is a town in the South West of Western Australia, {{convert|241|km|mi|0}} south of the state capital, Perth, and {{convert|31|km|mi|0}} southeast of the town of Donnybrook.

The town takes its name from Balingup Pool, located on the Balingup Brook which flows through the town. The name was first recorded by a surveyor in 1850, and is said to be derived from the name of Noongar warrior, Balingan.{{LandInfo WA|c|B|8 June 2007}} Other research by Noongar academic and researcher Len Collard has shown the name derives from the language, meaning "one that is situated there at this place".{{cite web |title=Balingup |website=Boodjar Nyungar Placenames |url=https://www.boodjar.sis.uwa.edu.au/boodjar-placenames/balingup |access-date=2021-01-25 }}{{efn|The suffix -up is commonly found in place names in south-western Western Australia and is of Noongar origin, meaning "place of".{{cite web|url=http://www.det.wa.gov.au/education/abled/apac/districts/albany/places.html|title=Noongar Town Names and their Meanings|work=Aboriginal Perspectives Across the Curriculum|publisher=Department of Education and Training (Western Australia)|archive-date=4 September 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070904154203/http://det.wa.gov.au/education/abled/apac/districts/albany/places.html|url-status=dead|access-date=17 July 2024}}}} Balingup and the Shire of Donnybrook–Balingup are located on the traditional land of the Wardandi people of the Noongar nation.{{cite web |url=https://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/map-indigenous-australia |title=Map of Indigenous Australia |author= |website=aiatsis.gov.au |publisher=Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies |access-date=17 July 2024}}{{cite web |url=https://www.samuseum.sa.gov.au/collection/archives/language_groups/ |title=Catalog of Australian Aboriginal Tribes |author= |website=www.samuseum.sa.gov.au |publisher=South Australian Museum |access-date=17 July 2024}}{{cite web |url=https://www.donnybrook-balingup.wa.gov.au/ |title=Welcome to the Shire of Donnybrook Balingup |quote=The Shire of Donnybrook Balingup acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land, the Wardandi People of the Noongar Nation |author= |website=www.donnybrook-balingup.wa.gov.au |publisher=Shire of Donnybrook–Balingup |access-date=17 July 2024}}

The town is on the South Western Highway. It originally had a station on the Northcliffe branch railway, opened in 1898, the same year the town was gazetted.

Balingup was known in the twentieth century for fruit and vegetable growing,{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article38367646 |title=Notes of Balingup District |newspaper=Western Mail |location=Perth, Western Australia |date=10 December 1910 |access-date=3 February 2011 |page=12 |publisher=National Library of Australia}} and more recently for beef cattle and organic produce. There are two long-established religious communities.

Balingup hosts annual rural festivals, primarily the Small Farm Field Day{{cite web |url=http://balingupsmallfarmfieldday.com.au/ |title = Balingup Small Farm Field Day {{!}} Showcasing the wonders small farming.}} (late April) and Medieval Carnivale{{cite web |url=http://www.balingupmedievalcarnivale.com.au/ |title = Home {{!}} BMC}} (August).

Nearby are found mushroom varieties of interest to both drug users and law enforcement agencies.Vines, Russell & Blake, Paul (1998). Fungimentary the magic mushrooms of Balingup SBS Television, Sydney, NSWLocal police concerned about tourist consumption of Balingup magic mushrooms Revelation magazine, No. 14, 1995, pp. 18–21. A large mushroom statue pays homage to the regions association with fungi and can be found on the Balingup Nannup road near the old cheese factory.

Balingup is also one of the few towns through which the Bibbulmun Track passes.

A bushfire swept through the area in 2013, reducing the Southampton homestead to ruins.{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/local/audio/2013/02/14/3690592.htm|title=Historic Southampton Homestead lost in Balingup fire|author=Alicia Hanson|date=14 February 2013|access-date=19 March 2013|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation}}