I regularly travel through burnt out areas especially in summer. They would have been burned off in the winter months when fires are easier to control so we don't have raging bushfires that spread everywhere.
Have also travelled through a specifically burnt out pine planatation (so not quite a forest but near enough for where we are XD) which is on the way to one of my partner's relative's houses which is a 3-4hr drive from our place :)
Your feeling isn't too unusual, I know some people who think similar things about cemetaries.
There wasn't much forest left here but a burnt out pine plantation might give a similar feel. Here the fires were at their height in October ( Autumn ) last year, when the weather was still very warm.
Yeah, I agree. Cemeteries are pretty peaceful too. Even though zombie movies might give us a different idea.