The park is currently under development, with the Sugar Hill Unit in St. Paul Wise County open for hiking, biking and fishing. The Sugar Hill Unit currently has8miles of hiking trails, a picnic shelter, over 2 miles of river frontage, and significant cultural and historical attributes. The property contains remnants of an 18th-century French settlement. There is a public boat launch available for boat access to the Clinch River at Artrip Russell County.

Once developed, Clinch River State Park will highlight the Clinch Rivers natural, historical and recreational resources. It will be the first blueway state park in Virginia. It will consist of several smaller 250-400 acres anchor properties connected by multiple canoe/kayak access points along a 100-mile stretch of the Clinch River. Some of the access points will be part of the state park, while other partner agencies and localities will own additional launch access points. These properties will comprise a string of pearls, or a collection of properties along the Clinch River for outdoor enthusiasts to access the river, participate in educational programming about the rivers ecological diversity, and enjoy the beauty of what The Nature Conservancy has deemed One of the Last, Great Places.

In the 2015 General Assembly session, authorization for park pre-planning was provided. The 2016 session of the General Assembly approved the development of the Clinch River State Park by DCR and appropriated monies for land acquisition. The acquisition of two anchor properties of the park is complete. The Artrip Bent Unit consists of approximately 232 acres in Russell County currently undeveloped the Sugar Hill Unit consists of approximately 400 acres in Wise County. The Sugar Hill Unit currently has nearly 9 miles of hiking trails, a picnic shelter, over 2 miles of river frontage, and significant cultural and historical attributes. The property contains remnants of an 18th-century French settlement. This area, marked by standing chimneys, was once called St. Marie on the Clinch. Later owners farmed the land, and in the 1930s, created a maple syrup and sugar operation known as Sugar Hill. The Sugar Hill Unit had a soft opening in the fall of 2019 and is open to the public for use.