It was a Wolf River Conservancy board member, Charles Askew, who convinced the Memphis City Council and the Division of Park Services to fund a $100,000 plan for a greenway along the Wolf River. The plan for a 22-mile, $30 million Wolf River Greenway was completed in 2005. By 2007, however, the plan was collecting dust, with no action toward construction, while the city of Germantown had already opened a 2-mile section of its own Wolf River Greenway. Frustrated, the Wolf River Conservancy asked for advice and assistance from Memphis Tomorrow, a group of Memphis executives who work to make Memphis a stronger, more attractive community for businesses and residents. The group suggested linking the idea of the Wolf River Greenway with Shelby Farms Park and the Greenline, a 13-mile abandoned rail corridor, which could one day intersect with the Greenway at the park. The two trails could form a giant "X"' through the city and connect its most diverse neighborhoods to each other and to Shelby Farms Park. Memphis Tomorrow also emphasized the necessity of convincing either Mayor W.W. Herenton or his assistant, Robert Lipscomb, that the Wolf River Greenway had the potential to positively impact the future of the city.

Toward this end, a "Greening Greater Memphis" meeting, organized by the Wolf River Conservancy in cooperation with Greater Memphis Greenline, and the Shelby Farms Park Conservancy, was scheduled for February 2007 at the Memphis Botanic Garden. Members and the general public were invited to come to the meeting in support of the vision of a 21st century city with an extensive greenway and park system. The Memphis Commercial Appeal supported the event by endorsing it and running guest editorials for a week before the event.

On the night of the "Greening Greater Memphis" meeting, more than 1,000 people squeezed into the Botanic Garden's 500-seat Harden Hall, lining the walls and doorways, and spilling out the hallways. The meeting was attended by then-Shelby County Mayor A.C Wharton, Germantown Mayor Sharon Goldsworthy, and Memphis Mayor Herenton, who was impressed by the number of people in attendance and promised to build the Wolf River Greenway. Representatives of the Hyde Family Foundations also attended the meeting. In response to the strong grassroots support demonstrated at the meeting, as well as the importance of the Wolf River Greenway to the community, they decided to assist in funding both the Wolf River Conservancy and the Memphis Division of Park Services in expediting the Greenway's construction.

In 2008, the Wolf River Conservancy hired the Greenway Team, a consulting firm, to design the first section of the Wolf River Greenway, from Walnut Grove Rd. to Shady Grove Rd. Construction of this section began in February 2010 and was completed in December of that year. The second phase, from Shady Grove Rd. to the Germantown city limits, is currently under construction.