Hickory has a lot more character than oak. If you don't like a clear oak, then look at maple.

Second vote for maple.

Hickory...We have site finished hardwood floors and I really wanted a rustic hickory hardwood. my hardwood floor guy strongly discouraged me from using this species unless I would consent to engineered which I did not want. He said otherwise the only way he would recommend the hickory was if I would go with fairly narrow boards. I love hickory but finally ruled it out. It still has a lot of grain but is more subtle than oak imo.

so back to the drawing board. Finally decided on 7” Live Sawn Oak which is very stable due to the way it is cut. this cut of oak gives you rift sawn, quarter sawn, and yes the plain sawn all together due to the way it’s cut. It uses the whole board.

no matter what species you use...you need to be careful with furniture dents and scratches. unfortunately, nothing is bulletproof.

Maple, which we have, is one of the hardest woods, but it marks as well. All wood does in my opinion. It’s a floor; you walk on it. It’s not a piece of furniture.
Porcelain, stone, or ceramic tiles are possibly less easily damaged.

Thank you all for your comments. I had Oak in my previous house when my kids were little, played sports, and had many friends over--those floor were used and softly abused and I never noticed much in the way of "wear". The first day I moved into my other home with Walnut, the movers made 2 very noticeable pressure scrapes through the wood and the area around the barstools looks like someone scribbled on them. Walnut definitely is more delicate imo

If you used mesquite, all of the scraps would give wonderful BBQ fuel.

Just to add regarding our maple floor, that it has some scratches, dents and marks from appliances being moved, but they don’t show as much as the darker colour. Oak seems to take on a reddish tone over time. Good luck with your choice.

We currently have 4” prefinished hickory. It has a lot of movement, both visual and physical. We love the look for our current house, and we’re okay with the gaps the come out in the winter, but they’re fairly large, and would be too much for many people. I certainly wouldn’t go any wider than our current size.

Kristin do you have a picture to post?

Reclaimed Elm, which is about as bullet-proof as one can get, short of some of the exotics, like Ipe.

I don't necessarily need bullet proof, just looking for less grain than Oak that isn't as soft as Walnut

Then also give a look at solid birch.

We had oak in our last house too and I also was looking for something with less grain in our new house. We went with 4" hickory and I love the way it looks! We have it in all the bedrooms, dining room, living room, great room, and kitchen. Here is a photo.

I had 5” wide plank, site finished Hickory, no stain just a clear coat. Absolutely loved it. Loved the character too. our cabinets were alder.

You might want to look at the different ways oak can be cut that will minimize the grain. A good flooring place can show you the difference. Unstained maple tends to yellow over time. Red oak can have a red undertone, but white oak does not. Oil based finishes will amber over time, so a white oak with a water based finish will not get a red / orange hue over time.

A good flooring store should be able to show you different samples of wood flooring. Hickory is very pretty, but it has lots of color tone variation and a certain amount of grain as shown in the above pictures.

Oak cuts:

Birch is a lousy flooring material. It's one of the softest woods, that's why it's mostly use in cheap flooring.

I've never regretted getting hickory floors! Hard as a rock and the look is elegant as well as striking.

Tatts - not really. Or, only if it's cheap birch. Sweet Birch rates a 1460 on the Janka scale - harder than maple. Yellow Birch rates a 1260 on the Janka scale, making it slightly harder than red oak. Paper birch is quite soft, often around 900. Walnut is a 1010, which is why it tends to gouge fairly easily. If you get a nice birch from a good sawmill, it should make a more than adequate floor. Flame birch is especially pretty. It's a lot like maple - specific variety matters. Hard maple runs around 1450, harder than ash or white oak. But the softer maples can be 900 or even softer. It isn't that useful to talk about Janka ratings for Elm, because what Elm is currently available and tested is usually Chinese Elm. Quite different from reclaimed American Elm which is both hard and resists wear, with a fairly fine grain. Unfortunately, most of the trees died of Dutch Elm disease, which means that reclaimed is about the only way to get it.

I think maybe it would help if the OP defines, specifically what he or she doesn't like.

Is it a strong grain pattern? Or high variation?

Oak has a strong grain, but a select grade cut the right way can be very consistent. Hickory, while it doesn't have as strong a grain, often has heartwood and sapwood of distinctly different colors. Often wood flooring is available in different grades, too. which tend to refer to how much variability there is in grain and color and how many knots are permissible.

Funny how we all see things differently! I am doing my research for engineered wood floors right now. I am bringing sample boards to my current house to narrow down to a few colors/woods. I find the Hickory to be too rustic and busy, with too much color variation between boards.

Would a rift sawn white oak go well with a coffee color of stain on cherry wood kitchen cabinets

? I'm also looking for a less busy wood in a medium to light color.

Depends on the birch. The native yellow birch has similar hardness to red oak

I have natural hickory prefinished floors in 4 inch for 7 years. We have never seen large gaps etc. I love my hickory. Can't you get hickory with less color difference in a higher grade? I loved the look of saddle finished hickory, the color difference was barely noticeable, but we liked the natural hickory more.

My pup likes our character grade hickory

I LOVE hickory! It is WILD AND WONKY! It has 5-15 different colours of wood in it. We call this 'movement'. If you LOVE a floor that has a different plank each time you reach into the stack then hickory is for you. If you want a floor that is low-key and consistent they you are barking up the wrong tree (ha...see what I did there?).

Hard Maple is a beautiful product. It can be prevented from yellowing with the appropriate UV protection applied to the finish. Cherry is a beautiful wood with a tight grain...but it darkens and reddens as it ages.

It comes down to what you are LOOKING for in a floor. Hickory is wild and wacky and an absolute DIVA! If you are not very adventurous then you will want to choose a calmer wood.

Adventurous-ness comes in many forms! I prefer my wood floors to be more calm/consistent in color, but I have lots of color in my furniture, art and drapes. The busy Hickory paired with colorful oriental rugs, non-neutral upholstery and patterned drapes, will start to be too much in a room. I want my floors to be the neutral background and not the star of the room. I'm just choosing different material to be adventurous with.

Lordy, I love Kristen S's floors.

Please note. While Hickory is very pretty it is also VERY temperamental. If you have humidity swings in the home it will move and could cause some problems. Make sure you have excellent climate controls in place. Here is one of our Hickory projects we sent to CA.

Custom Hand-Scraped Hickory Floor in Cupertino California · More Info

Thanks, Anna. They've been really great floors. I would agree with chispa that you have to be willing to work with them in your decor. We have quite a bit of color in our decor but not a lot of pattern (and very very little pattern on/near the floors), which I think works. I can't imagine putting a busy rug on them, though.

Oak and Broad...that’s exactly what my floor guy told me. We are in the Midwest where the summers are very humid and although we have good humidity control in the house he still discouraged us. I do love the pic you posted. My sister has hickory cabinets and they are gorgeous.

Ours here.

Juli...stunning

Lol. I have Persian carpets in every room on my hickory floors.

Those look awesome, I think I've been convinced--Hickory wins