Via the Ammonoosuc, it is part of the watershed of the Connecticut River, which flows to Long Island Sound.

The Gale River flows for its entire length in Grafton County.

The two streams join in Bethlehem, and the Gale River flows thence generally westwardly.

Returning to Franconia, the river collects the Ham Branch, its most significant tributary, then passes through Sugar Hill to Lisbon, where it joins the Ammonoosuc River.

[3] It may have received its local name because it flowed through the Gale Farm, as shown in a 1796 map of Franconia.