When it was a canal that connected Kyoto and Fushimi, it crossed the Kamo-gawa River eastward slightly above today's joint with the Kamo-gawa River, running in parallel with the Takeda-kaido Road in some sections, joining with the Hori-kawa River, and then flowed into the Yodo-gawa River via Fushimi Port.
かつて、京都と伏見を結ぶ運河であった頃は、現在の鴨川合流点のやや上流側で鴨川を東へ横断したのち、一部区間で竹田街道と並行、濠川と合流し伏見港を経て淀川に合流していた。