The Kalte Bode rises in the Upper Harz at the foot of its highest mountain, the legendary Brocken, in the southern part of the so-called Brockenfeld, on the border with Lower Saxony, north of Braunlage.

Immediately nearby are the sources of the Warme Bode, the Ecker and the Oder.

The Kalte Bode flow initially eastwards to Schierke, along the northern slopes of the Wurmberg.

In the Elendstal, a wild and romantic valley between Schierke and Elend, the Kalte Bode has to carry the huge quantities of water that run into this short section of river in spring.

A few kilometres beyond Elend it is impounded in the Mandelholz retention basin, before being united with the Warme Bode beyond Königshütte below the ruins of Königsburg to form the Bode.