>>157689Hey OP, I grew up in the Central Valley. There are plenty of places to camp, but the majority of the lakes/rivers have some sort of fee attached (8-10 bucks, it's not that bad).
Alternatively, there are quite a few areas that could be used as camp grounds, and even a few near rivers, ect.. The thing is, when you are dealing with decent camp spots in a heavily populated area like the Central Valley/North of Sacramento, you will also have to face the fact that homeless people usually find those places to be the best campsites as well. If you want, I could still give you a few spots to camp. Would you rather be north of Sac or south?