Wood density is an indicator of several other properties, while the color, in addition to its aesthetic value, it also relates with the natural durability. Fast and efficient technologies able to predict these properties result in significant gains. Studies have been conducted using the spectroscopy technique with the aim of reducing the cost and time-consuming of the determination of some wood properties. However, works that apply near infrared spectroscopy technique aiming to investigate the colorimetric wood properties are not known. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the basic density and the colorimetric wood properties of 14 wood species by the near infrared spectroscopy. It was determined the basic density by gravimetric method. It was acquired the colorimetric parameters (CIELAB system) by a Spectrophotometer and the absorbance spectra by a Near Infrared Spectrometer. The spectral information was correlated with the density and colorimetric parameters values by partial least squares regression technique. The calibration to estimate the basic density presented a coefficient of determination in the cross validation of 0.951. The calibrations for the colorimetric parameters of wood showed coefficients of determination in the cross validation between 0.799 and 0.943. It was verified that the application of the treatment of the first derivative on original spectra resulted in improvement in the calibrations adjustment, reducing the standard error of prediction and increasing the ratio of performance deviation.