Various factors and propagation trends of stress waves in cross sections of wood need study to improve accuracy in the quality evaluation of wood and decay detection in standing trees. In this study, a Fakopp Microsecond Timer was used to measure the stress wave transmission time of Euphrates poplar (Populus euphratica Oliv.). Velocity was calculated to find the trend and make wavefront maps of stress waves. Results indicated that stress waves travel fastest in the radial direction and that velocity decreased as the angle between the two sensors increased. Velocity also increased as the number of annual rings increased. At the same time, the velocity in normal wood was higher than it was in tension wood, and it gradually increased in normal wood as the radial distance increased from pith to bark. Different influences on the stress wave propagation in wood were found when holes were made in the center of a cross section. Velocity showed little change with the increase in hole diameter when the angle between impacting and receiving sensors was 90°. At 180°, velocity was affected by hole diameter and rapidly decreased. Successful simulated wavefront maps of stress waves in cross sections of sound, hole, crack, and decay wood using two-dimensional contours were made. Three-dimensional maps were also reconstructed using Kriging interpolation and showed high similarity between cross sections.