[7][8][9] Hickory owned 160 acres (65 ha)[8] of undeveloped land along Jacob Fork, with access to US 321, which the city originally acquired for a never realized economic development project in the 1990s.
[10] In early 2019, the city donated the property to the Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina to help establish the state park.
[11][10] Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina used the matching value of the city's donation to help them acquire 188 acres (76 ha) of adjoining land along the river in April that year.
[15][13][9][16] The bill included a directive for NCDPR to study feasible routes for the trail, while also considering ways to improve access from Interstate 40 to South Mountains State Park.
[1][17][9] In September 2020, Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina received a $1.2 million North Carolina Land and Water Fund Grant to acquire 1,126 acres in McDowell County for the trail.