December 11, 2018
I had an hour to kill before an early afternoon meeting, so I thought I would take a quick lunch-time walk through the woods at Phantom Forest Conservation Area. Once at the trailhead, I discovered that the short trail at Phantom Forest actually led to another short trail at the nearby Bittersweet Woods. Looks like a two for one special for me!
The parking lot for Phantom Forest is a clean asphalt parking lot off Barrett Station Road between Manchester and Dougherty Ferry. The trail starts with a nice uphill climb through the open mixed hardwoods. From there, the trail veers off on a connector route between some residential homes and a small creek. Soon you will arrive at the trailhead for Bittersweet Woods Conservation Area. While there is no true parking lot, you can park on the public street (Winding Trail Ln) near the large power lines. I’m told that Bittersweet Woods is also known as Goodson (Jean and Joan) Conservation Area.
On this gray, sloppy, snowy day the birds were pretty quiet. However, there were deer everywhere. I saw singles as well as large groups of does, and one large buck. The buck was staring intently at me, perhaps trying to figure out what I was doing outside on a day like this.
The trail through both conservation areas is not very well marked by signage. However it is well worn and it would be impossible to get lost for long. Bittersweet Woods is 10 acres in size, while Phantom Forest is 13 acres. Both areas are surrounded by homes on one side and roads on the other. While there is quite a bit of invasive honeysuckle, there are also open woods with an impressive variety of oaks, maples, hickories, ash, and sycamore. I can see 4 different species of oak in this leaf collection on the trail surface.
The trail surface is earthen, and in many areas covered in wood chips. There are a few hills, but still an easy hike. On this winter day I had the whole place to myself, but I would imagine that the trails get some pretty heavy use from the locals. As I rolled back into the lot after my hike, I was refreshed and ready to get on with the rest of my workday. Even a short hike can go a long way towards maintaining some sanity.
I definitely plan on returning to Phantom Forest and Bittersweet Woods soon. At the very least it will be a great place to photograph deer and perhaps find a few sheds. Now I’m inspired to seek out a few other nearby smaller parks and conservation areas that I have neglected in the past.
For more information, check out:https://nature.mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/places/phantom-forest-ca
https://nature.mdc.mo.gov/sites/default/files/downloads/conservation-areas/9805.pdf
