It was located in the Tsuchiyama neighborhood of the present-day city of Kōka, Shiga Prefecture, Japan.

Per the 1843 "東海道宿村大概帳" (Tōkaidō Shukuson Taigaichō) guidebook issued by the Inspector of Highways (道中奉行, Dōchu-būgyō), the town had a population of 1505 in 351 houses, including two honjin, and 44 hatago.

It had one Tonyaba, for the stabling of packhorses and warehousing of goods, and one kōsatsu for the display of official notifications.

On November 6, 1868, while making the journey from Kyoto to the newly proclaimed capital of Tokyo for the first time, Emperor Meiji celebrated his 16th birthday at Tsuchiyama-juku.

This motif comes from an Edo Period min'yō folk song about the Suzuka pass which was popular with packhorse handlers: "The slopes are shining, the hills are cloudy, and the earthen mountains rain", with "earthen mountains" as the literal translation of "Tsuchiyama".