There is a legend that TAIRA no Koremori was defeated by Genji (the Minamoto clan) and ran away secretly using this road, and once there had been a historic site associated with the legend; in a village 'Taira,' there still remains a legend that Koremori ran away to the village.
源氏との戦いに敗れた平維盛が密かに逃亡の道としたとする言い伝えがあり、それにちなむ史跡があったほか、平という集落には維盛の落人伝説がある。