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Birch
When using the hardwood birch for your fire, you want to take into consideration the species of birch you're using. Black birch and yellow birch both burn long and hot, producing above-average heat energy. As a bonus, they're both fairly easy to split. When compared to black and yellow birch, white birch and gray birth both burn well but not as long or as hot.
Beech
Beech firewood gives off a lot of heat to keep you warm around a campfire for a long period of time. While out in the woods, you can recognize this tree by its smooth gray bark, which resembles elephant skin. Splitting beech firewood by hand, however, is difficult, although not impossible. People typically use beech in their wood stoves because of its above-average production of heat. If you live in the northeastern portion of the United States, the Firewood Guide website claims that "beech is best utilized as a firewood species."
Oak Firewood
Oak trees produce one of the best types of firewood out there. While oak trees come in many different species, all can be identified by their acorns. Each oak species burns extremely well, providing lots of heat and long lasting fires. Oak firewood's drawback lies in its difficulty to split because the wood grain can sometimes be crooked.
Shagbark Hickory
Named for its shaggy gray bark, shagbark hickory burns hot and long through the night. This extremely dense hardwood also won't spit or pop while burning and smells enticing. A popular wood used in cooking and smoking, hickory adds a sweet, bacon-like taste to your pork, ham and beef. Shagbark hickory firewood's only fault is that it's extremely difficult to split.
Maple Firewood
Commonly used as firewood due to its profusion, maple burns well and gives off a lot of heat. No all species of maple, however, burn equally. Although sugar maple -- also known as hard maple -- and black maple prove to be a challenge to split, their high heat value makes them worth the effort. Red maple and Norway maple provide only average heat. Because silver maple grows quickly, it gives off little heat. The Firewood Guide recommends using silver maple only if it's free.