Ten-man Wanderers looked to have held on for a valuable point only for the inspirational Reds skipper to pop up and save Rafa Benitez's blushes late on.
After losing two of their opening three games, Liverpool were desperate to get back to winning ways, but found themselves a goal down when Kevin Davies bundled home Matt Taylor's 33rd-minute corner.
Liverpool hit back eight minutes later when Gerrard's corner was cleared to Glen Johnson on the edge of the area and the full-back fired home through a crowd of players for his second goal of the season.
Wanderers could have been back in front on the stroke of half-time but for a brilliant save from Jose Reina, who tipped over Taylor's free-kick.
The hosts did regain their advantage two minutes after the restart when the Reds' brittle defence failed to deal with another set-piece.
This time it was keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen's long free-kick forward and Tamir Cohen latched on to Davies' flick-on to blast the Trotters back in front.
But any hopes of Bolton holding on for a famous win disappeared when Sean Davis was harshly sent off for his second booking for a trip on Lucas on 54 minutes.
Fernando Torres, who missed a succession of good chances, immediately took advantage of the extra man as he ran on to Dirk Kuyt's knock down to equalise on 56 minutes.
Liverpool piled forward in search of a winner, which eventually came when Gerrard, who had earlier rattled the crossbar, crashed home a superb volley with seven minutes left.
The Reds could have added a fourth but for a brilliant save from Jaaskelaien to deny Torres late on.