The Staré Hory Mountains is a small mountain range

Mountain range

A mountain range is a single, large mass consisting of a succession of mountains or narrowly spaced mountain ridges, with or without peaks, closely related in position, direction, formation, and age; a component part of a mountain system or of a mountain chain...

 in Central Slovakia, near the town of Banská Bystrica

Banská Bystrica

Banská Bystrica is a key city in central Slovakia located on the Hron River in a long and wide valley encircled by the mountain chains of the Low Tatras, the Veľká Fatra, and the Kremnica Mountains. With 81,281 inhabitants, Banská Bystrica is the sixth most populous municipality in Slovakia...

. It is a part of the Low Tatra

Low Tatra

The Low Tatras or Low Tatra is a mountain range of the Inner Western Carpathians in central Slovakia.It is located south of the Tatras proper, from which it is separated by the valleys of the Váh and Poprad rivers . The valley formed by the Hron River is situated south of the Low Tatras range...

, which is part of the Fatra-Tatra Area

Fatra-Tatra Area

The Fatra-Tatra Area or the Tatra-Fatra Belt of core mountains is a part of the Inner Western Carpathians, a subprovince of the Western Carpathians. Most of the area lies in Slovakia with small parts reaching into Austria and Poland...

 and the Inner Western Carpathians. The mountain range is named after the village of Staré Hory

Staré Hory

Staré Hory is a village in the Banská Bystrica Region in Central Slovakia. It is situated in the Staré Hory Mountains, between the Veľká Fatra and Low Tatra mountain ranges. In 2004, Staré Hory had population of 469....

 (literally Old Mountains).

It borders the Veľká Fatra Mts. in the north west and north, Low Tatra in the east, Zvolen Basin in the south and the Kremnica Mountains

Kremnica Mountains

The Kremnica Mountains are a volcanic mountain range in central Slovakia. They are part of the Western Carpathians and the Slovenské stredohorie Mts.The mountain range is situated east of the town of Kremnica, which gave it its name...

 in the west.

Points of interest include: the villages of Špania Dolina

Špania Dolina

Špania Dolina is a village and municipality in central Slovakia, near the city of Banská Bystrica. Although its permanent population does not exceed 200 people, it is a picturesque historic village situated 728 m above sea level and is surrounded by the Staré Hory and Veľká Fatra mountains...

 and Donovaly

Donovaly

Donovaly is a village in the Banská Bystrica Region of central Slovakia. Being situated in an important pass between the mountains of Veľká Fatra and Starohorské vrchy, on the route connecting Banská Bystrica with Ružomberok, it became a prominent centre of winter and summer...

 and the Harmanec Cave.