I lived in Gorham and worked for the AMC. 
Most of the places I camped in the US had individual pitches that were screened from others with some trees. You had a fire pit and a walk through to the toilets.
Here every place we have managed to camp has been a big field, with no marked pitches. So people wind up really close to you. And as someone said, no fires. Also, at one place it was quite weird because the people around us all sat in their cars steaming up the windows, staring out.
I think that the gear at home tends to be more robust. I could go to REI or something and get good gear but it wasn't overly expensive. Here it is either quite cheap or really expensive.
This has been my experience too. I haven't seen any camp sites at all that resembled what I knew as camping growing up in the Rocky Mountains. When I went camping, even in the organized camp sites, the places were in secluded, woodsy locations, and there was enough space between the spots to feel like you were alone unless you got some neighbours that had a bit to much to drink and got a bit noisy. We also had plenty of places where you could just drop a tent and go it in the wilderness without an organized campground. Obviously, you had to check the regulations for the area first, but there were places like that.
My favourite campgrounds had plenty of room for a nice campfire. Plenty of wood around, so you didn't have to bring wood in--you'd just collect stuff in the woods around you. There were usually streams or rivers running through, so you'd go to sleep with the sound of falling water around you. There would also be little trails running off of each site, so you could spend the whole weekend just exploring around your site and have a lovely time without having to go somewhere to hike and explore. Some had flush toilets. Others only had stinky outhouses. I actually preferred those--they tended to feel more remote and private.
I've also never been to a campground back home that had showers. We were roughing it. So if people wanted a shower, they brought a plastic sun shower and either a little shower/porta potty tent or they went up the hillside and got up close and friendly with nature. Nor would they have things like playgrounds and such--although some would have a big field for larger groups to do sports activities if they brought their own equipment. Nor would anywhere have planted grass--unless maybe there was a baseball/volleyball field at the entrance as I mentioned before. It was woods, dirt, wild grasses/flowers, etc.
The sites I've seen here just don't compare. They remind me more of some of the "camping" I did when I was doing an internship in New York and went out to Lake George. I had been so excited to camp, but that didn't feel like camping to me either. My New Yorker boyfriend was confused when I said it didn't feel like camping.
I did have one camping trip in the Forest of Dean that was nicer. It was still a big field with lots of other groups right by us, but there was at least one big fire pit and some woods, a river and a trail around us. It wasn't a public campground. It was a private place that we rented out for a youth trip for our church. I wouldn't mind going there again. It was nice, but still nothing like the camping I did in the Rockies.
