Mummy Mountain is a mountain situated in Paradise Valley,

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The formation is predominantly Precambrian

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

with outcroppings of

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica ( silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical ...

and

schorl Tourmaline ( ) is a crystalline Silicate mineral, silicate mineral group in which boron is compounded with elements such as aluminium, iron, magnesium, sodium, lithium, or potassium. Tourmaline is a gemstone and can be found in a wide variety o ...

. The slopes of the mountain incorporate primarily suburban residential development while the upper summit areas are conservation sites.

Camelback Inn JW Marriott Scottsdale Camelback Inn Resort and Spa is a historic resort and spa owned by Marriott International, Inc, located on the southern slope of Mummy Mountain in Paradise Valley, Arizona, United States. The Camelback Inn was established i ...

has been located on the southern slope since 1936. As the only part of the

Phoenix Mountains The Phoenix Mountains are a mountain range located in central Phoenix, Arizona. With the exception of Mummy Mountain, they are part of the Phoenix Mountain Preserve. They serve as a municipal park and offer hiking, mountain biking and equestri ...

not held within the Phoenix Mountain Preserve, portions of Mummy Mountain are protected by the Mummy Mountain Preserve Trust and the town of Paradise Valley.

Name

The formation originally was known as Windy Gulch and Horseshoe Mountain but was later renamed by miner and businessman Charles Mieg, who purchased most of the property in the 1940s for $12,000. He observed that the mountain's profile resembled an

Egyptian Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...

mummy A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay fu ...

lying down. When he began selling parcels for development, Mieg marketed the land using the name Mummy Mountain.

Conservation

The Mummy Mountain Preserve Trust is a 501 (c)(3) charitable trust established in 1997 to preserve the natural landscape of approximately along the mountain ridge. Local celebrities including

Marshall Trimble Marshall Trimble (born 1939) is an American author, singer, former community college professor, and Arizona's official state historian. In addition to his position as director of Southwest studies at Scottsdale Community College, he is a popular ...

Joe Garagiola Joseph Henry Garagiola Sr. (February 12, 1926 – March 23, 2016) was an American professional baseball catcher, later an announcer and television host, popular for his colorful personality. Garagiola played nine seasons in Major League Basebal ...

Clive Cussler Clive Eric Cussler (July 15, 1931 – February 24, 2020) was an American adventure novelist and underwater explorer. His thriller novels, many featuring the character Dirk Pitt, have reached ''The New York Times'' fiction best-seller list m ...

and

Bil Keane William Aloysius "Bil" Keane (October 5, 1922 – November 8, 2011) was an American cartoonist most notable for his work on the newspaper comic '' The Family Circus''. It began in 1960 and continues in syndication, drawn by his son Jeff Kea ...

supported a campaign asking property owners for donations of land. Through private donations and transfer of public land from

Maricopa County Maricopa County is in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,420,568, making it the state's most populous county, and the fourth-most populous in the United States. It contains about ...

, were controlled by the trust by August 1999."The Mummy Mountain Preserve Trust", ''Town Reporter'', Town of Paradise Valley, Vol. 30 Issue 1, August 1999

References

{{Mountains of Arizona Mountains of Arizona Geography of Phoenix, Arizona Landforms of Maricopa County, Arizona Protected areas of Maricopa County, Arizona Nature reserves in Arizona Mountains of Maricopa County, Arizona