The first phase of trail construction began in 2014. Beginning in March 2015, the Texas Conservation Corp began installing new mile marker and wayfinding sign posts on the main trail of the Barton Creek Greenbelt Trail/Violet Crown Trail system. The first six miles of this trail system, from Zilker Park to Brodie Lane at Highway 290, officially opened to the public in August of 2015.

Hill Country Conservancy completed the second segment of trail, stretching from Highway 290 to Slaughter Creek in February 2019 to hold the official ribbon cutting ceremony on National Trails Day in June of that year.  Construction to finish the trail to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is estimated to begin in late 2020 or early 2021 to finish out Phase 1 of the trail.

The second phase, the Violet Crown Trail at the Wildlands, will connect the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center to the Onion Creek Management Unit, one of the most beautiful tracts of Water Quality Protection Lands in the area. This section of the VCT will move back out of the urban area into a more quiet and remote setting and will stretch deep into Hays County.