If you want to stain it very dark, maple might not be a good choice. From my limited experience, it does not take dark stain very well. I think you will see some grain, even with the dark stain, but it might still be a better choice than maple.

Ours are beech wood because they don't show much grain and take the stain well. We have maple trim and I was very concerned when the stain first went on. Once it was all done, it turned out great, but it did need to be conditioned before putting the stain on. I have to agree with jaymielo that maple would probably not be your best choice with a very dark stain.

Our entire stair case is maple, handrails and stairs. However we stained it natural. For what it is worth we have two Jack Russels and the wood is standing up very well to scratches despite the fact that they race up and down the stairs. There are none so far so I am guessing it is a good hard wood. Our bathroom cabinets and tub surround are also solid maple. However they are stained a very dark expresso. I had the tub surround custom made and I stained it myself. It took the dark stain, a paste rub on type of stain very well. No problems there.

I have had oak furniture made in the past and I have also stained it. I have found that the grain does indeed show through despite staining it dark. Don't get me wrong. I like oak. But if the grain is going to be an issue for you I am not sure it is the wood for you. Is there any way you could get a piece of the handrail and test it out for yourself with a dark stain. That would give you peace of mind if you decide to go with the oak. Just a suggestion.

Thank you everyone. Do you think I should consider another type of wood? I am trying to make this house look like it's been there forever even though it's a new build. The image I have in my mind is of staircases in historic houses. I've only seen pictures and none of the books I've looked at mentions the wood used for the handrail. Do you think these old houses could have used mahogany? One book I remember from long ago showed houses from Louisiana---I think it said they were all along the "River Road." They weren't plantations, just beautiful 200 plus year old houses.

It's not that I don't like oak but when I see oak I either think Craftsman or Victorian and if our house has a style at all it's probably closer to Colonial or Georgian.

Mahogany was used as well as whatever was found locally on the land.
Also, Heart of Pine was common in the south.

As mentioned before maple is more difficult to take dark stain.

My parents house is Georgian and built in the 1920's.
It has dark oak floors and handrails with painted ballisters.

Here are pics of oak and mahogany both stained in a darker stain to give you an idea of grain.The oak grain is very visible. With my furniture, I mix darker stained woods so it still looks nice together.

The oak china cabinet was purchased unstained and I stained it in the with a Georgian Brown Mahogany stain.The wall is red. It shows up hot pink in the pic. LOL
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The mahogany piano I refinished in the same color stain.
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I wanted our floors to be the same color stain and I gave the formula to the flooring people but they wiped off the stain too soon and I ended up with a medium oak stained floor and hand rail.
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I hope this gives you an idea of the look of the grain.
If I could do it again, I would have chosen a different wood for our floors and handrails. I really do not like heavily grained woods. Have you looked at walnut? I love the walnut floors and handrails that other posters have shared here in the past.

i want our floors and handrails the same color, so they will have the same wood: american walnut. what are you using on your floors? maybe this would be a good solution? good luck, hope it all works out as you dreamed.

Thank you everyone for your thoughtful answers. As teachers say, the more you learn about something the more questions you have. Now I'm wondering if it is usual for the floor and the handrail to be the same wood---something I never thought about before.

Our floor is cumaru (hope I spelled that correctly) because this is what DH had his heart set on. It will have some sort of waterlox type finish so it's not going to be really glossy. To my eye the predominant color is reddish with some darker and lighter undertones. Since I have had my heart set on the dark handrail it never occurred to me that the handrail should be the same as the floor and the stair treads. Would this be the best thing to do? I'm willing to give up the dark handrail if that's what it takes to make everything pull together. This then raises the question to me of how the handrail should be finished. I don't know anything about wood but it seems like the handrail shouldn't be waterloxed but should instead be polished in some way. Is this correct or am I totally off course here? Help!

Lsst, your cabinet and piano are beautiful and I particularly love the way your china is showed off to great advantage with the cabinet and the paint. Lovely, lovely!

flseadog,
Thanks for the compliment.
If I were you, I would ask at my local flooring store. If a staircase company is doing your handrail and balisters, see if they have a portfolio that may have what you might like.

I googled and found a link to a company that has some photos of some staircases and floors with different shades.
I am not endorsing this company and have never been affiliated with it- just thought the photos might give you an idea of how a darker handrail would look.

If you scroll to the middle, you will see a very dark handrail with a different type floor.
Hope this helps...

Here is a link that might be useful: Stair and floor pics

My trim person suggested matching the wood of the handrail to those of the stair treads. Ours will all be oak.