#20. On-line-reservation? (California).
Honestly cannot answer for California, we've never camper there (yet). But rest assured, there are also private campgrounds, State and Federal Forests, Army Corps of Engineer campgrounds, State Recreation Areas, State Parks as well. Every state will have a variety of campground opportunities. Searching the internet is a good start. Just type in the name of any city-state in the USA followed by the word "campgrounds", and you'll get hits. The harder decision will be to select only 1, because they ALL seem to be so inviting, private and public.
One thing to keep in mind, open land camping (boondocking) is much more prevalent West of the Mississippi River than East of it. Public or open lands for open boondocking is very rare, if anything East of the Mississippi. But established campgrounds of all sorts are prevalent everywhere.
After you have been camping a short while, you will kind of naturally fall into a "style" of campground you are looking for. Some navigate to exclusively boondocking in isolated places, others navigate to State Parks, others my even settle in a private campground long term (seasonal). But, in a little time, you will also find what fits your lifestyle the most.
And yes, there is wide variety of amenities at every campground. No two are the same. If traveling full time, you need to be prepared for complete primitive with absolutely no connection to any grid, all the way to full hook-up with everything provided.
