It had been said that in the Genko War (1331), Imperial Prince Morinaga, a prince of Emperor Godaigo, used the road to escape from the tracking by the Kamakura bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by shogun) ('Escape of Otonomiya to Kumano,' volume 5, "Taiheiki" [The Record of the Great Peace]).
また元弘の乱（元弘元年〈1331年〉）に際して後醍醐天皇の王子護良親王が鎌倉幕府の追討を逃れて落ちのびた際に利用したとも伝えられる（「大塔宮熊野落ちの事」『太平記』巻第5）。