Latics went in front in the 31st minute when Mike Fondop rose to head in Tom Pett's corner.
Gateshead goalkeeper Owen Mason produced a number of saves to deny the likes of Fondop and Billy Waters and keep his side in the game.
The hosts then took advantage to snatch a point in the 63rd minute when Luke Hannant fired home.
Latics boss Micky Mellon said: "We came up here to win, but the minimum we were going to have to do was to try to get something to stop the little poor run that we've been on results wise.
"The players played under those conditions and understood they would have to get that so every credit to them for that.
"It was a hard-fought battling point coming to a difficult place."
Mellon's side are back in league action next weekend when they travel to AFC Fylde.
