Making the Most of the Peninsula: A California Guide to San Mateo, Santa Clara & Santa Cruz Counties

The paperback travel guidebook, Making the Most of the Peninsula: A California Guide to San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz Counties, was the first detailed guidebook to the Silicon Valley/San Jose region south of San Francisco. This three-county area is known in the region as "the peninsula." The book was written and photographed by Lee Foster as a commissioned project for Presidio Press, in 1983, and was later re-printed by Tioga Publishing, in 1989. Some extant copies continue to appear on the used market for collectors. The book presented an in-depth look at all the travel attractions, including parks/nature locations and cultural sites, which were then available to an explorer of the region. The San Mateo portion included both the bayside and coastal areas. The Santa Clara coverage extended from highlights in the north county, such as Stanford, to locations beyond the Silicon Valley and San Jose as far south as Gilroy. Santa Cruz coverage included both the coastal pleasures and the inland redwood parks.