The interaction of glaciers and rock glaciers and the associated development and degradation of permafrost landforms are intensely discussed fields of periglacial geomorphology. This study presents examples of glacier–rock glacier interactions since the Little Ice Age in the Swiss and French Alps, based on sequences of current and historical maps and orthophotos as well as field observations. It is concluded from these examples that many creeping permafrost features, which were widely specified as 'glacier derived' in the literature, appear to be much older than the glacier itself and constitute the remains of rock glaciers, which were disrupted by glaciers. Furthermore, the environmental conditions causing an alternation of glaciers and rock glaciers at the same location are analysed here, and the processes leading to a transition from one landform to the other are identified in the examples given. The influence of climate change on rock glacier development appears to be ambiguous and partly contradictory. The examples show how rock glacier development can benefit from increased rock fall activity and deglaciation in warming periods.