Forest have now failed to beat the Saddlers in their last 11 meetings, after a Kelvin Wilson own goal helped the visitors claim a point from a 1-1 draw.
A goal from Brett Ormerod had put Forest in a deserved lead early in the second half. But, after surviving wave after wave of pressure from the home side, Walsall snatched a point when a Tommy Mooney header deflected off Wilson and into the net.
It left Forest to rue a missed opportunity, after Swansea, Carlisle and Doncaster all dropped points.
Forest almost made a lightening start to the match as a cross from former Walsall player Julian Bennett fell perfectly for Matt Thornhill. However, the player who had been handed just his second start for the Reds, saw Clayton Ince race off his line to save bravely at his feet.
Thornhill, who had netted the equaliser for Forest at Southend in midweek, almost scored again after turning neatly on the edge of the six-yard box, but saw Ince make another smart save to deny him.
At this stage, Forest looked determined to bring an end to a run of ten games without a win against Walsall, as they repeatedly piled the pressure on the Saddlers, with Brett Ormerod sending a header narrowly over the bar from a Chris Cohen cross.
The Reds striker sent a second effort looping wide, after a Lewis McGugan volley had bounced kindly for him in the box, while a spectacular overhead kick from Thornhill dropped the wrong side of the post.
Walsall's main threat came from set-pieces, where the looming presence of veteran striker Mooney ensured they were always a danger.
But it was Ince who remained by far the busier of the keepers, with a Nathan Tyson shot, struck on the turn from the edge of the box, testing his reactions.
A quick break from Cohen saw Forest come even closer, as he surged into the Walsall half before sliding Tyson in down the right, but the striker crashed the ball powerfully against the bar.
The only surprise was that the score remained level at the interval - but it took only four minutes for Forest to address that after the break.
McGugan threaded Tyson into space down the left and his pace took him clear of the defence before he flashed the ball across the face of goal to the far post where Ormerod was arriving to lash his shot home.
Two minutes later and a carbon copy move saw Tyson deliver the ball to the near post for Ormerod, who this time failed to connect with the goal at his mercy.
It proved to be a costly miss as Walsall scrambled themselves level. A cross from Edrissa Sonko on the right caused chaos in the Forest box as Mooney rose at the far post to plant a header back across goal that bounced into the back of the net off Wilson.
But Forest pushed again and Tyson flashed a golden opportunity wide when presented with a free header from a cross by substitute Luke Chambers, while Chambers himself was also off target when he connected with Sammy Clingan's corner.
Clingan was well-placed at the other end to clear off the line when Anthony Gerrard powered a header beyond Smith.