>>2442751Depends on where you are. Magnetic north is different across the country. If your in the PNW it’s like 15° East. If you’re in New England it’s like 13° West. So it could be clockwise or counterclockwise (or none at all if you’re in some parts of the Midwest).
>>2442793Declination will be indicated on the bottom right of a Topo map.
If you’re in the US, you can use CalTopo to make custom maps (rather than buying 7.5’ USGS maps), download them to an electronic device, and print the exact same map ad Kinko’s for like $1 each. The custom maps are great but will be smaller, so if you’re hiking over a large area you’ll have to make a choice:
>pay for the full siteThat allows full sized maps in larger formats. 24”x17” is a standard size for 1:24,000 7.5’ USGA quad maps. You can also do more than 5 maps if you have a subscription (though you can sign in across different accounts if you’re niggardly and cheat the system).
>print multiple, slightly smaller mapsThey’ll be 11”x11”, the largest you can do without paying. It’s still to big for most home printers, so you have them printed at Kinko’s.
>print them at homeI don’t care for this option. If you stay at 1:24,000, the maps are just a tad too small. You can change the scale, but then they become a little to hard to read. Still, it’s an option.
Here’s a Skurka video talking about the very basics of mapping. He starts off with an explanation of declination.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NWaR_hWqm4E