Bistrița Mountains

The Bistrița Mountains (Romanian: Munții Bistriței; Hungarian: Besztercei-havasok) are mountain ranges in northern central Romania.

Ocolaşul Mare Peak, in the Ceahlău Massif

Geologically these ranges are considered part of the Inner Eastern Carpathians group of the Eastern Carpathians. Within Romania, however, it is traditional to divide the Eastern Carpathians in Romanian territory into three geographical groups (north, center, south), instead in Outer and Inner Eastern Carpathians. The Romanian categorization is indicated below.

The Bistrița ranges consist of:

• the Bistriţa Mountains (Munții Bistriței) per se, i.e. Pietrosul Massif (Masivul Pietrosul; literally: Rocky Massif) + Budacul Massif (Masivul Budacul) + Ceahlău Massif (Masivul Ceahlău), the latter sometimes considered a distinct range. In Romania these are considered part of the central Carpathians of Moldavia and Transylvania (Munții Carpați Moldo-Transilvani), or "MMT"
• Mestecăniş Ridge (Obcina Mestecăniș). In Romania these are considered part of the northern Carpathians of Maramureş and Bucovina (Munții Carpați ai Maramureșului și Bucovinei), or "MMB"
• Dorna Depression (Depresiunea Dornei) MMB
• Giumalău-Rarău Mountains (Munții Giumalău-Rarău) MMB
• Giurgeu Mountains (Munții Giurgeului) MMT
• Hăşmaş Mountains (Munții Hășmașu Mare) MMT