It was opened in 1963 and called 'Kanko-doro' (Tourist's road) at first, however, from 1991 it have been called 'Kinukake no michi' (Draped silk road), which had been chosen at the nickname contest that had been held on the local request (the name 'Kinukake' originates from an anecdote: The fifty-nineth Emperor Uda wanted to see snow in high summer, so his followers draped many white silks over Mt. Kinugasa [Kyoto Prefecture] [also known as Kinukake no yama, literary, the mountain draped with silks] to make up a similar scene of snowy mountain).
1963年（昭和38年）に開通して以来「観光道路」と呼ばれていたが、1991年（平成3年）に地元の運動により愛称を公募の結果、「きぬかけの路」と命名され定着している（第59代宇多天皇が真夏に雪見をしたく、衣笠山(京都府)（＝きぬかけの山）に絹を掛けたと伝えられる故事にちなむ）。