Ruatoria (Māori: Ruatōria) is a town in the Waiapu Valley of the Gisborne Region in the northeastern corner of New Zealand's North Island. The town was originally known as Cross Roads then Manutahi and was later named Ruatorea in 1913, after the Māori Master female grower Tōrea who had some of the finest storage pits in her Iwi at the time (Te-Rua-a-Tōrea ). In 1925 the name was altered to "Ruatoria", although some texts retain the original spelling. Ruatoria's Whakarua Park is the home of the East Coast Rugby Football Union.