Hoover Park Connector Trail sits between Applegrove Street to the north and Maple Street to the south in the heart of North Canton, Ohio. The limestone and asphalt trail winds from west from the Washington Square shopping plaza, hitting a number of points of interest along the way. These include Hoover Park, owned by Walsh University, which features playgrounds, an outdoor grill and sports courts (basketball, baseball, bocce); The non-motorized path intersects with the Nimishillen Creek in Hoover Park. This is a great place for wildlife spotting and birdwatching.
Other points of interest include Hoover High School and Hoover District, a mixed-use development based in the historic headquarters of the Hoover Company (of vacuum cleaner fame). The trail is generally well-maintained, rarely crowded but never empty.
Best parking and trail access is at Hoover High school (525 7th Street NE, North Canton), the Hoover Community Recreation Complex (1325 E. Maple Street, North Canton) or Washington Square (on the 2200 block of E. Maple)
The trail can also be accessed from downtown via Taft Avenue just to the east of the Hoover District.
The Hoover Park Connector Trail is a nice trail that combines asphalt and crushed limestone surfaces. It is maintained by the Stark (County) Parks. Basically this trail connects Hoover High School with Walsh University. Along the way it also connects to the Hoover Community Recreation Complex and Middle Branch Trail (and Glen Oak High School) while winding its way through several residential neighborhoods. The trail is fairly flat with a few short steep climbs that can be easily tamed if you stand up out of the saddle.
My one complaint about this trail was that there were a few spots where the trail ended at a street and it was not exactly clear where the trail picked up again. There was always an arrow sign at each of these endings indicating the direction one would need to travel but in each case the path arrow on the sign showed several turns and there was no indication how far it was to pick up the trail again. In this aspect the trail could be improved.
While I would not characterize this trail as a destination trail for people outside of the area, I can see that this trail has great utility to the local residents who can utilize it to travel between popular community facilities.
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