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Head southeast on Route 101 out of Keene, pick up Route 124 toward Jaffrey, loop back through Swanzey's covered bridges, and let the Envision's QuietTuning cabin do what it was built for. There's your weekend in one sentence. Standard all-wheel drive on every single trim means you're not choosing between capability and comfort when the park road is slick with wet leaves.
The 2026 Buick Envision seats five, fits the tight pull-offs on Route 124, and keeps the cabin noticeably settled on a winding two-lane. If you need three rows, we'd point you toward something larger, since this weekend isn't built around that.
What's the Plan at a Glance?
| Stop | What to Do | Best Time | Parking |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stonewall Farm, Keene | Farm store, 120-acre trails, nature playground | Morning | Free, on-site lot |
| Route 101/124 corridor | Drive peak foliage toward Jaffrey and Monadnock | Mid-morning | Pull-offs along Route 124 |
| Monadnock State Park | Hike or summit views, roadside color | Late morning | Day-use fee lot at park entrance |
| Swanzey covered bridges | Self-guided loop (four historic bridges in one town) | Afternoon | Roadside pull-offs |
| Downtown Keene | Dinner, walk Central Square | Evening | Central Square and side streets |
Stonewall Farm: Start Close to Home
Five minutes from Winchester Street and you're already in it. Stonewall Farm runs 120 acres inside Keene, with hiking trails, a farm store, and farm animals. New Hampshire's tourism office documents it as a visitor-ready stop year-round. Starting here does two things. It gives kids or passengers something to stretch their legs before the longer drive, and it puts the farm store within easy reach before the Envision is loaded with anything else.
The cargo floor earns its keep on a day like this. Buick lists 25.2 cubic feet behind the rear seats and 52.7 cubic feet with the rear seats folded. A pumpkin, a bag of apples, and a sweater for every person in the car fit without deliberate arrangement. Check the Envision lineup if you want to confirm which trim includes the hands-free power liftgate before you go. The liftgate lands on Preferred and above, and standing in a gravel lot holding a squash is the exact moment you appreciate it.
What we notice on the lot: The Envision's active twin-clutch AWD adjusts torque between the rear wheels continuously rather than waiting for a slip event. On damp leaf-covered park entrances, that proactive distribution is what keeps the vehicle tracking cleanly rather than correcting after the fact.
Route 101 and Route 124: The Drive Itself Is the Point
New Hampshire Magazine and the state's travel office both document this corridor as one of the Monadnock Region's best fall drives. Leave Keene heading southeast on Route 101 to Marlborough, then turn south on Route 124. Twelve miles of Route 124 run past the base of Mount Monadnock, through foliage that frames the mountain and reflects in Perkins Pond on a clear morning.
The road is two-lane and genuinely winding through there. Now for the straight talk on fuel.
Will the fuel numbers pinch you here? Not on a loop shaped like this one. The EPA rates the 2026 Envision AWD at 22 city and 28 highway mpg. That number sits near the lower end of this compact crossover segment, and it's worth knowing before you plan a week of Keene errands around it. On a 90-mile fall loop that's mostly two-lane highway, you're running comfortably in the highway range. The city number is the one that bites in daily life, not on a Route 124 loop. With a 16.1-gallon tank, the highway range on a full tank is roughly 450 miles. The trip fits.
What the highway drive reveals is the cabin. Buick's QuietTuning system combines structural sound-deadening with active noise cancellation, and on a two-lane at highway speeds the result is a settled interior that feels out of proportion with the vehicle's footprint. Wind noise that accumulates over an hour in a mainstream crossover stays at the edges here. The 2.0L turbo lists 228 horsepower and 258 lb-ft of torque from Buick's published specs. The 9-speed automatic finds the right gear on the grades descending toward Jaffrey without hunting, and the torque peak starts at 1,500 rpm, so passing moves on Route 124 don't require revving the engine out.
All three trims (Preferred, Sport Touring, Avenir) share the same powertrain and the same mpg numbers. Buick takes an unusual approach here, since most competitors reserve their best efficiency for a front-wheel-drive base model. The Envision doesn't offer a FWD choice at all in the 2026 lineup. Every one comes with AWD standard. You're not trading efficiency for the drivetrain, and it's priced in from the start.
- EPA highway rating: 28 mpg (AWD, all trims)
- EPA city rating: 22 mpg (AWD, all trims)
- Tank capacity: 16.1 gallons (Buick-listed)
- Estimated highway range: approximately 450 miles on a full tank
- Regular unleaded required (no premium)
Swanzey and the Covered Bridge Loop
Swing northwest toward Swanzey on the return leg, and the Envision keeps things simple. The Buick Enclave is the right call if you need a third row for six passengers. But on this particular loop, Swanzey's bridge pull-offs are tight, Monadnock State Park's weekend lot fills fast, and downtown Keene's Central Square parking is a real parallel-park situation. The Envision's 182.7-inch length (Buick-listed) and its turning radius built for city streets thread those spaces without the logistics that a full-size SUV requires.
New Hampshire's tourism office documents seven historic covered bridges in the Monadnock Region, with four of them inside Swanzey alone. The loop is self-guided and free. The pull-offs are roadside. On an October afternoon with leaves at peak color, it's the kind of stop that photographs well and takes less time than you'd think. That leaves room for a Columbus Day weekend addition, the Monadnock Art Open Studio Tour. The 2026 Monadnock Region calendar lists 84 artists in 65 studios across Dublin, Hancock, Harrisville, Jaffrey, Marlborough, and Peterborough. The tour is free, self-guided, and overlaps geographically with the Route 124 corridor you already drove.
Why the Envision Fits This Region Specifically
We want to be specific about what this vehicle does well on a trip like this, and where it stops. The cabin is the main thing. Two hours of winding two-lane driving in a genuinely quiet interior lands differently than two hours in a mainstream crossover. The QuietTuning system earns its name on a route like Route 124, and the 30-inch ultrawide dashboard display (Buick-listed as standard on the 2026) keeps navigation readable on back roads without requiring a phone mount. Standard AWD helps on a state park entrance road or a farm stand lot that hasn't been maintained since mud season. At 25.2 cubic feet of cargo space, there's room for a full farm-store run without rearranging the rear seats.
Where it stops is worth saying plainly. It won't haul a third row, tow anything heavier than 1,500 pounds (Buick's listed max for the Envision), or match the fuel efficiency of a hybrid crossover. If the fall trip involves a loaded trailer or six seats, the Encore GX is a smaller option that trades interior refinement for a tighter footprint and better fuel economy, or the Enclave carries the people.
The whole loop runs 90 miles of foliage, a farm stop, a historic bridge run, and a quiet cabin for the whole ride. For that, the Envision is a practical, well-sized choice, and the timing is right. Peak color in the Keene area typically runs the first week of October in a good foliage year. The window isn't far off.