Camping

 Campsite 

Our campsite at Colter Bay Campground, Grand Teton Nat Park

A typical, maintained campsite usually has 1. a fire pit, 2. picnic bench, 3. a cleared, flat area/sort of raised platform to setup your tent, and 4. space to park your vehicle. Bear proof storage and trash disposal units are offered in "bear county" (where black, grizzly or Kodiak bears are common). Some campgrounds have well demarcated individual campsite and at some places there are not distinguishable site boundaries.

Multiple campsites share restrooms + drinking water located centrally. Depending on the size of the campground and orientation of campgrounds, there may be multiple restrooms.

There might be an individual tap and or electric outlet for each campsite, which, however, are not found in most national parks. Campgrounds in state parks and in private RV parks usually provide those individual connections.

Camping requires completely different trip preparation. You have to think about many factors which usually do not come into play while staying within well developed, well connected areas i.e. securing meals, adapting to sudden weather changes, unpredictable phone/internet connectivity, shower availability etc.

a. Camping gear and paraphernalia: e.g. tent, tent footprint, canopy/shelter, headlamp, torch

b. Sleeping equipments: e.g. sleeping bag and/ pad/ bivy, pillow

c. Cooking tools e.g. portable stove, propane tank, utensils, cleaning material, cutlery

          d. Food items: ready to eat or raw items which you can cook in minutes, condiments, oil
                                  Energy bars, trail mix etc for when on hiking

e.Weather wise: clothes suitable to possible temperatures and sudden and extreme weather changes- winter/waterproof jackets, hats, gloves, sweaters, layers, lip balms, moisturizer for cold nights; poncho, umbrella for rain; breathable cloths, hat, sunglasses, sunscreen for high heat. 

f. Cleaning supplies: for you- toothpaste, body wash, shampoo etc, for utensils and for clothes in case needed. Not all the parks have laundry facility in or even near the park so you have to take enough clothes or plan to wash some yourself if needed. There are multipurpose, biodegradable liquid soaps available for all kinds of cleaning.
Importantly, not all parks have shower facilities at/near their campsites, so one have to manage accordingly- wash cloth, baby-wipes, sponging, or skip a bath. I found a nice video on How to Bathe while Camping from Howcast and a very helpful article on backcountry hygiene on LoweGear website (designated camp sites in parks have flushed toilets most of the times but in remote areas there might be pit toilets. Most of the remote parks will not have hot water. Parks with shower facilities do offer hot showers, for which you might have to pay and go to the shower facility which might be only one in the whole park, away from your camping area.
All visitor centers and campgrounds will have drinking water fountains...no doubt. And, if not they will give ample warnings at visitor center or last location beyond which you will not get drinking water.

g. Camp fire items: log (always use log sold locally), fire starter, kindle, matchbox

h. Additional items we carry to enjoy the stay- DSLR Camera, hammock, folding chairs, cooler, games, mosquito repellent, additional pair of shoes.

Types of Camping

1. Front-country camping- which involves camping at developed and maintained campground facilities, which is described above. As suggested by its name, typically these campgrounds are situated around main features and facilities of the park, and connected with paved roads where vehicles can reach. So, it is very convenient in way that you can carry everything in you car to the site, unload and assemble. This will allow you to go in and out of the site with/without car for exploring the park or for any other task.
This is the type of camping we have been doing so far. 

2. Back-country camping- any wilderness area of the parks beyond paved roads and developed hiking trails is back-country. As it is away from paved road, you have to carry everything that you might need on your travel to back-country- tent, food, water, clothes, cleaning supplies etc. This is the fundamental difference between front and back-country camping and has huge practical implications i.e. type of backpack to use, amount and type of food, refilling water, number of clothes to carry, maintaining hygiene and overall amount of weight you can carry with you.

A park may have some demarcated camping locations or it might not, in which case, you can set up your tent anyplace- safe and, 200ft away from water source. There might be shelters to designate. There may be a fire-pit.There are no restrooms. Obviously there may not be a man-made water source, in which case you need to rely on natural water source. Due to this dependency, you need know your route and to have a plan to purify (by boiling/filtering/chemically) the water for long hikes. 

Pack-in, pack-out is the standard policy in backcountry. It is almost like living in a jungle, away from civilization except you have to carry your trash with you and depending on park's regulations it may include human waste and used toiletries.
I have only known Grand Canyon Nat. Park to have a developed campground in "back-country" i.e. below the rim level.  

People who set out to hike long trails like Appalachian, Pacific Crest spend many days- months in wilderness and do this sort of camping. 

3. Primitive camping- this type falls in between front and back-country camping. The campsites may be just a cleared area without individual water and electric, and without flushed toilets. Pit-toilets are usually available.

Reserving a campsite in National Parks and National Forests

Campgrounds in National Parks are managed by National Park Service. Most front-country campsites can be reserved through Recreation.gov website. Most of the campsites are open year around (limited facility in winter). However, in summer, reservations are allowed and limited number of sites will be spared for walk-ins on first come, first serve basis.

I found a very good, informative website on National Forest Campgrounds. I have not visited this site before, but I am happy I found it. It will be very helpful in planning my next trip.

Most parks require back-country hiking and staying permits, for which the procedure should be followed as mentioned on a park's website on nps.gov. For well-known parks and trails, it is hard to get even these permits at last minute. So, researching your destination well is necessary.