A small community on the west bank of the Pend Oreille River at its confluence with Little Ruby Creek. It is named for the color of a clay slide on the river bank, which has a bluish tinge when wet. The town was comprised of a few neatly painted houses surrounded by gardens and small orchards, and was a center of valley farms and dairy ranches.

North of Blueslide, the highway alternately climbs steep slopes, curving sharply around jutting rocks, and descends sharp grades. Along the route was once evidence of abandoned logging operations—dismantled mills, empty houses, the bed of a railroad spur line where the track has been torn up.