One of the three major ranges in the Carpathian Mountains, the Western (“Apuseni”) Carpathians have the lowest heights, around 1000 m. They extend from the Danube Valley in the south and the Someș River Valley in the north. Their highest peak, Cucurbăta Mare (1849 m), is part of the range of mountains that includes the Southern Bihor, the Northern Bihor and the Vlădeasa Mountains.
 
The landscape of the Apuseni Mountains includes many mild mountain slopes, partly covered with coniferous woods and, in the lower areas, large meadows. The rural area, where pastoral and wood cutting activities dominate, comprises about 300 villages. On the other hand, the many middle-sized towns are mostly communities built around former gold mines that existed here in the Dacian and Roman Antiquity (i.e., Abrud, Roșia, Zlatna, Baia de Arieș, Baia de Criș, etc.)

Also known as "The Moți Land,” after the name (“moți”) the locals designate themselves with, the Apuseni Mountains have a tumultuous history, strongly linked to the history of Transylvania and the social and national struggle of the Romanian peasants, mostly the rebellion led by Horia, Cloșca. and Crișan in 1784, and the 1848 revolution led by Avram Iancu.